Fairy Heart
by Shibue Miyuu
Summary: Lucy's a new journalist. Her first job was to interview a flower shop, Fairy Heart. In the end, not only she would get her assignment done, but many things would follow. Including stories of the customers, the love life of the florists itself, the inspiration of chasing her dream again, and last but not least, a certain pink haired man with a dashing smile. (Many pairings)
1. I - Welcome to Fairy Heart

Hey guys! Thank you for giving my story a chance to be read! This is my first time writing a Fairy Tail fanfiction. I hope that you will enjoy reading the story as I enjoy making this one.

There will be many pairings in the story and it will be revealed as the story goes on. But the main focus of this story is Lucy, Mira, Erza and Mavis. They will guide the story and tell about their story themselves. Nothing explicit and even though romance is the main genre, but there will be also drama, humor, friendship and angst.

It's a contribution for the event that I join in Tumblr, Fairy Tail Big Bang 2019. There will be pictures for this story also as this is a writer and artist colab event. I will upload the link picture later.

And all the editing credits goes to my wonderful beta reader **nalufever (dancewiththeseatbelts)** which also happened to be the artist that draw the pictures for this story!

There will be 10 chapters total for this story, including prologue and epilogue. And story will be updated biweekly.

And with all that said may you enjoy read this story of mine ^^

Miyuu

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I - _**Welcome to Fairy Heart**_

* * *

"Excuse me…"

Lucy opened the glass door and let herself into the flower shop. From the front display she could already see that many types of flowers bloomed in the shop, pleasing her eyes. But when she was fully inside, it was not only the colorful flowers that had her amazed, the fragrance that wafted around was enough to make her felt like she was in a meadow. No wonder that this flower shop was so famous and one of the hot topics that everybody in Magnolia talked about these days.

_Fairy Heart_, a flower shop that had opened five years ago and in that five years had made its name to be known in the entirety of Fiore. It didn't have another branch; only the one that was built in Magnolia, which where the blonde was now. The shop was managed by three florists and now, Lucy was wondering the whereabouts of the famous florists of Fairy Heart. Or she should say the three famous_ fairies_ that maintained Fairy Heart. The three florists were each known to be exceptional beauties. That's why the others called them fairies… even though there was also rumorsabout these three fairies.

"Ara, welcome to Fairy Heart," said the sweet voice of a woman from Lucy's right. Lucy turned her head to look at the voice's owner and was greeted by a really pretty lady. The woman's silvery white hair cascaded down her back with her bangs tied up and off to the side; although Lucy didn't know why she tied her bangs like that, it kind of ruined the elegant aura that the woman exuded. The shop woman approached Lucy with a full smile on her lips. In all, the silvery white haired woman was very welcoming and it made Lucy relaxed.

_'I think the rumor is a false one after all.'_

"Can I help you?" The woman asked politely. "My name is Mirajane, but I answer to Mira and I will be the one that helps with your need today."

_'The saying that the florist in Fairy Heart has exceptional beauty is right. Mirajane sure is very pretty. It's not wrong to even call her a fairy.'_ Lucy offered the woman a polite smile. "Hello Mirajane, my name is Lucy."

"Hello, Lucy," said Mirajane. "Just call me Mira. As I said before, what can I help you with?"

Lucy was on a mission that day. Newly hired at Weekly Magazine; her superior, Jason, had given her this as her first job. Her mind drifted to what her boss told her. _"You will interview the owners of the very-super-coooollll flower shop named Fairy Heart."_ But then, Jason's face and tone of voice turned from excited to dejected. _"You are our last resort. If they also kick you out, then I give up. So, please Ms. Heartfilia,_ pleeeeeeease _find a way to interview the operators of this flower shop. You can do anything you want and I will provide anything that you need! If you can get an interview with Fairy Heart, promotions will be knocking on your door."_

So, here she was. On her first job as a journalist, her first _very-hard-level_ task. Nice, wasn't it?

But looking at Mirajane in the moment, Lucy was wondering why it was so hard to interview them. It wasn't like they had man-eating-plants among the flowers that made everybody scared of them and ran away, was it?

_...Or did they?_

_...Or was it the rumor?_

Lucy was the type of person that wouldn't turn down anyone asking for help. So, when Jason pleaded with her to do this interview (the man dogeza in front of her), she agreed to help her boss. The man practically lunged to hug her to show his gratitude when she agreed - which Lucy dodged of course. She was prepared for anything when she heard the magic words, **promotion**. _'Here goes nothing.'_

"I come here today not to buy flowers," said Lucy, "I'm a journalist from Weekly Magazine and I am here to interview the florists of Fairy Heart."

In the moment Lucy said that she was a journalist, she swore that she heard something crack. And for some unknown reason she suddenly felt cold… or maybe it was the air conditioner that somehow had turned on and blew towards her.

"You are a journalist," said Mirajane, smile still intact on her face.

"Yes."

"From Weekly Magazine."

"Yes."

"And you don't want to buy flowers today?"

"Maybe next time?" said Lucy, unsure about the aura that the silvery white hair woman now exuded. Somehow the elegance and warmth was gone - replaced with a cold and intimidating aura from the still smiling woman. Lucy gulped. Cold sweat began trailing down her back. "Can you help me with this, Mira?"

Mirajane didn't give an immediate response. Instead she locked gazes with Lucy for a while until she heaved a giant sigh.

"And here I thought that I wouldn't have to bother with them today," said Mira exasperatedly. "I guess I will let Erza deal with you for now." After saying that, Mirajane turned and went deeper inside the shop, leaving the anxious looking Lucy behind.

_'Who is Erza? The other florist? And what did she mean - she would let Erza deal with me?'_ But before she had more time to think about it, another woman came out from where Mirajane had disappeared. Another strikingly beautiful woman, this one with scarlet hair.

This new woman approached Lucy with confidence and a bold fiery aura. Lucy's gaze was drawn to the the item in her hand… was that a shinai (bamboo stick like sword)?

"You are the journalist from Weekly Magazine that just met Mira, right?"

Lucy snapped back her focus to the scarlet haired woman. She was met with a piercing gaze. "M-My name is Lucy," stuttered Lucy a bit. _'She's scary…'_ An unknown fear began to crawl inside her. "And yes, I'm a journalist from Weekly Magazine. Are you Erza?"

"Yes, I'm Erza. And I want you to give me one, damn good reason why I shouldn't kick your butt with this shinai out of this shop. You have five minutes."

"WHAT?!" Lucy exclaimed loudly. This Erza woman was insane! Lucy came to Fairy Heart to do an interview - not to fight! Then, she remembered the rumor that the florist in Fairy Heart was someone that should not be messed with. Was this what the rumor meant? Don't mess with them because they were... violent ?

"Three minutes left."

"W-WAIT!" Lucy tried to think about something, anything but her mind was blank from the panic that rapidly grew inside her.

"Two minutes."

And Erza's threat was sure not helping! What should she say to her?

"One minute."

Lucy didn't want to meet her end in here, like this. She was only twenty-three for heaven's sake! She hadn't had a boyfriend yet, her apartment rent was due, not to mention that she hadn't made amends regarding her relationship with her father...

"Thirty seconds."

Oh, gosh, she didn't have time to think about those things! Her time was nearly up and her mind was as blank as ever. "I-"

"Ten seconds."

"I-I just-"

"Your time's up." Erza raised the shinai above her head, ready to strike Lucy.

"_EEEKKK!_" Lucy shielded her head with her hands and squatted to the ground, slamming her eyes shut. "I JUST WANT TO INTERVIEW TO KNOW WHY FAIRY HEART IS SO FAMOUS!"

"Not good enough," said Erza indifferently.

"ALSO I WANT TO HEAR AND KNOW THE STORY OF FAIRY HEART!" Lucy screamed her reasons desperately. Why did she have to meet her end like this? As far as she knew, she never did anything wrong and she swore that she would always pay her rent on time! Was that not enough to let her escape from this dire situation?!

"Erza, hold it." Another voice that Lucy didn't know made Erza halt. Lucy peeked a little to see the owner of the new voice was approaching her. She saw another woman emerge from the back; a blonde woman, much smaller than the rest of the occupants of the room. Her long wavy blonde hair flowed on her back to her feet and it swayed every time she walked. She wore a small winged hair ornament on each side of her head near her ears. The smaller woman stood in front of Lucy and looked at her with green eyes. "What did you say?"

"Eh?" Lucy blinked her eyes. "What do you mean? And who are you?"

"My name is Mavis. And I am the florist of Fairy Heart. What I want to know is why did you say that you want to know the story of Fairy Heart?"

Lucy lowered her hands and stared back at Mavis. "Because I believe that everything has it own story to tell. Fairy Heart is a famous flower shop, so I believe that it must have many stories behind its success," answered Lucy slowly. Mavis looked back at her unblinking while Lucy awaited her response with bated breath.

_Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tic-_

"Okay, you pass," said Mavis suddenly, a wide smile plastered on her face.

"Hai?" Lucy blinked her eyes several times, confused with the sudden turn of events.

"Mira, please bring the tea and also the cake that I bought yesterday to the meeting room. Oh! You can bring Erza's strawberry cake too." Without a word Mira disappeared to do what Mavis had asked her. "This is a rare occasion that has to be celebrated," said Mavis cheerfully. Either she was oblivious to Lucy's confusion or was just purely ignoring the reaction of the journalist. The smaller woman continued, "And Erza, please put a closed sign on the door. I'm sure this will take some time." Erza also did what Mavis told her without another comment. Then Mavis turned her focus to Lucy again, as if she just remembered that she was there this whole time. "Lucy, isn't it? Do you have anything that you want to do after this? As I've said that this can take some time so I suggest you cancel any plans."

"N-no, I don't have any engagements after this," said Lucy still trying to process the whole thing. Did this mean that she could interview them? So her life was spared from Erza's shinai? _Wait a second…_

"You will let me interview you?!" Lucy sprung from her position, stars in her eyes. She felt happiness beyond anything she'd ever experienced before erupt inside her. _'Oh. My. GOSH! I hit the jackpot!'_

"No, you won't interview us," said Mavis sharply.

"...Eh?" A big question mark hung near Lucy's head. She halted her celebration dance. "What do you mean?"

"You want to know about the story behind Fairy Heart. So, that's what we will tell you; the story of Fairy Heart."

"I see…" Lucy didn't know what to respond from Mavis' answer. Sure, she had told them she wanted to know about the story of the Fairy Heart. But, didn't she have to ask them first about what story she wanted to know? That's how it worked, right?

Then again, she was the only one that had gotten a chance to talk to them; the last resort, Jason had described her. _'The other journalists were either kicked out immediately, or had been beaten by Erza's shinai.'_ She was lucky enough to say the right thing at that desperate moment. If not… she didn't want to think about it. She would not push her luck. She would grab anything that these florists offered to her. If they wanted to tell a story or stories, then she would listen to… whatever they had to say.

Mavis asked Lucy to follow her to the inner part of the flower shop. Following her, Lucy realized that the smaller woman was barefoot. Even though she found it weird but she didn't ponder on it too much. Mavis led Lucy to the room at the back. From the look of the room, she guessed that it was the meeting room which Mavis mentioned to Mirajane before. She saw that Mira and Erza had already taken seats and the tea and cake that Mavis asked for Mira to serve was on the table. A massive piece of strawberry cake was in front of Erza.

"Have a seat please." Mavis seated herself on the empty chair beside Erza and Lucy sat on the last empty chair beside Mirajane. Truthfully, the blonde journalist still didn't grasp the whole process. She would have to see what these florists had in store for her… even though that's what her mind told her, but the curiosity that stirred inside her wanted to be quenched. Lucy braced herself to ask questions.

"Why are you letting me hear your story?" Lucy asked the florists. "I mean the other journalists must have told and asked the same things."

"Believe it or not, the other journalists never said that magic word," said Erza. "They just want to interview us."

"But that's what I want to do too. What makes me different from the others? And what do you mean of the magic word?"

"Because you want to know our story," said Mavis.

"You're not answering my questions," said Lucy exasperatedly. "Yes, I want to know your story. But so did the others."

"No, they didn't," said Mirajane. "They just wanted for us to answer their questions. What I mean is, they wanted us to listen to them but they didn't want to _listen_ to us." As if there was a switch, a light bulb lit inside Lucy's mind. "They just launched bunch of questions at us without hearing us in the first place."

"You are the first one that specifically told us that you want to HEAR our story. That's the difference between you and the others. And that's the magic word I meant before," said Erza.

_'So that's the reason why the other journalists were not successful getting them interviewed.'_

"I bet you must also like to read books, don't you?" asked Mavis to Lucy.

"What?" Lucy was taken aback by Mavis' question that came out of nowhere. "How do you know?" Lucy didn't bring anything with her that could implicate her as a bookworm, which she really was.

"Your choice of word, story and your view on every being must have had a story behind it, has indicated that you are one," said Mavis. "And it's my pleasure to meet another book lover like me!"

"She has practically read all of the books in this country," said Mira smiling.

"That's awesome!" Lucy said amazed.

"Thank you," said Mavis. "Now, if you are ready, I will begin the story behind Fairy Heart."

"She also likes to storytell," added Erza while cutting her cake. "Don't mind me." The scarlet haired woman ate her cake with delight and Lucy could tell that Erza really liked the strawberry cake from the happy face she displayed.

"Please have some tea and cake." Mira offered the food and drink to Lucy while she poured some tea for herself.

"Thank you," said Lucy but her focus was on Mavis who was ready to tell her the story. "I'm all ears." Mavis nodded.

"Before I begin, I want to ask you a question," said Mavis. "Do you have a boyfriend?"

"...Why do you want to know?" Lucy narrowed her eyes.

"Please answer the question."

"...I'm currently looking for one," said Lucy in a small voice but was heard by the rest of the room's occupants.

"It means that you don't have one, right now."

"What's with me not having a boyfriend got to do with listening to the story?" Lucy was a bit annoyed by the question. To be honest, she had never been in a serious relationship before. She's had a crush yes, a fling yes, but not a real relationship, one where she was someone else's girlfriend. She was a hopeless romantic and had quite a particular criteria for a boyfriend. To find the right guy was one of her goals in life, after all. But for now, it was a sensitive subject for her. Not something that she wanted to discuss with strangers who had just threatened her life not even an hour ago. "Can I not listen to the story if I don't have a boyfriend?"

"Well… I'm afraid you will not fully understand the story if you've never liked someone else in romantic way," said Mavis and frowned a little. "And that will be a shame if you can't understand the story fully."

"Who said that I'd never liked someone?" said Lucy in a defensive tone. At her age -she was twenty-three!- it would be insane if she'd never liked someone before. She didn't live in a cave, thank you.

"Do you now?" Mavis tilted her head a bit.

"Not now, but I did have a crush before."

"Great!" Mavis clapped her hands, happy with the answer. "That will do." Lucy sweat dropped from Mavis' reaction.

"So, the story that you want to tell me is a love story I suppose?" asked Lucy.

"Love stories that we in Fairy Heart have helped. We help the budding of love turn into full bloom and each of the stories have bloomed beautifully. That's the success behind Fairy Heart." Mavis' eyes turned into stars that shone very bright.

Lucy had a hunch that whatever story that Mavis would tell her would be a great one if how the smaller woman described her story would be any indication. Her toes were tingling with anticipation and her heart was beating fast. At that moment, she had already forgotten she was supposed to do an interview. She was all ears for the story that Mavis would share.

"Hmm, where should I start?" Mavis tapped her chin, pondering.

"How about the story between Levy and Gajeel?" Mira chimed in.

"Wait, Levy? As in Levy McGarden the librarian at the Magnolia Library?" Also the same Levy that was currently her neighbour in the same apartment building Lucy resided in. She did know that the librarian had a boyfriend named Gajeel Redfox. She once met the man and got a nightmare from the piercing stare the man gave her. That was three weeks ago by the way.

"Do you know Levy?" Erza asked, her fork with strawberry on it, halfway to her mouth.

"Yes. She's my neighbour in the apartment building that I'm living in now," answered Lucy.

"But I never saw you when I went to her place."

"Because I just moved into the apartment three weeks ago from my hometown." The same day she moved in, Gajeel had successfully given her nightmares while she slept. That was a very nice way for her to spend her first night in the new place. Lucy shook her head to get rid of the memory.

"I see," said Erza, continuing to eat her cake.

"So, what's the story behind Levy and Gajeel's relationship?" Lucy tried to move the focus back to that couple.

"If I have to say, that couple is one of a kind. But like what the sayings says, opposites attract." Mavis put in her thought. "Now, with the story. It happened just a week after the Fairy Heart opened..."

* * *

**To be continued**


	2. II - I Want to be Your Friend

Here's the second chapter. As you can guess from the previous chapter, the story will be focus on Gajeel and Levy.

All the editing credits goes to my lovely beta reader, **nalufever** ^^

May you enjoy this chapter as well :D

Miyuu

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II - _**I Want to be Your Friend**_

* * *

"If I'm not wrong, it happened during one of the annual events of Magnolia, the Hanami Festival," said Mavis, beginning the story. "In Magnolia we have some annual events that are celebrated in diverse ways. The Hanami Festival is when all of us, the citizens of Magnolia, gather around the blooming Rainbow Sakuras and party while waiting for the trees to glow." Rainbow Sakuras were one of Magnolia's most famous trademarks; being cherry trees that would glow in all colours of the rainbow during the evening. "Around six years ago, the Mayor of Magnolia, began to start a new tradition for this event. To use flowers to say whatever you want to someone during the Hanami Festival. The festival itself will be held for a month, while the trees bloom."

Lucy recalled the saying, that if someone gave flowers to another person under the big Rainbow Sakura, your feelings would come true.

"Even though at that time we had just opened, because of the event, our flowers were sold out fast. Especially flowers that convey love's feeling like red roses and tulips. It was on the last day of the festival that Levy came to the flower shop…"

* * *

_**Five years ago**_

"Excuse me…"

Levy McGarden, a petite woman with blue hair, pushed slowly on the glass door of the flower shop. She had walked around Magnolia, in hopes of buying a bouquet of flowers or even a solitary flower would do. And this new place, Fairy Heart - as she read the plaque in front of the shop - it was the last place that she hoped would still have flowers to be _sold_ to _her_. She remembered Natsu mentioned this particular shop when he delivered the new books to her last week.

Levy's mind was a mess. She couldn't understand why Gajeel had asked her to go to see the big Rainbow Sakura on the last day of the Hanami Festival which was today. Everyone knew because of the tradition that started last year, the place was a famous place to confess one's feelings.

Did Gajeel want to confess to her? But that's impossible, they barely knew each other. She was in a slump because of the recent accident she'd had when they met for the first time. Two weeks before, she was almost hit by a big motorbike after leaving the library late at night. Even though she didn't get hit by the motorbike, she had twisted her ankle; that in the end had forced her to rest at home for a week. The _jerk_ on the motorbike didn't even stop to look at her, the-almost-victim of hit and run; instead just ran away, leaving an injured Levy behind. Two weeks after the incident, Levy's ankle was almost healed but she was told by her doctor not to strain her ankle too much for the time being. Walking was okay, but when you have to manage a library that was humongous by yourself… it was hard for her not to groan. Even though there were Droy and Jet who helped her from time to time, still, it was not the same. That's when Natsu came to the library to deliver new books with a stranger, which was Gajeel.

Natsu was one of Levy's friends that would regularly help her with deliveries of new books from other cities to be filled in the library. He'd told her that he would come today but he never mentioned that he would also bring a friend. Not to mention that the extra person was this… _scary_. The scary looking man just looked around the library while folding his arms, leaving all the work to Natsu. But when she wanted to help Natsu to move the boxes filled with new books, suddenly the box that she intended to lift was gone from her hands. Levy saw it was in Gajeel's arms now. The man then asked with his deep rough voice where she wanted the box to be put. She didn't believe at first that the scary looking man had talked to her, but after her surprise, she told him where she wanted the books to be put. And after that, Gajeel didn't talk anymore, instead he moved the rest of the boxes to where Levy told him. _'What a strange, scary looking man.'_ That was her first impression of Gajeel.

When Levy asked Natsu who the man was, he told her his name and that Gajeel was his acquaintance; nakama (comrade). Levy didn't try to ask more about the man. If he was Natsu's friend then she would not think bad things of Gajeel, however scary he looked. At first Levy didn't want to get involved with Gajeel. His looks were quite intimidating and she was known as a goody-two-shoes. Her circle of friends didn't have someone like Gajeel - which in her opinion was a bad guy, based solely on his appearance. But she would try not to judge a book by its cover, however rough and scary the cover was.

But odd things started to happen. When Levy closed the library that night, that same day, she found Gajeel leaning outside against the large lamp post nearest the building. It was quite late because Levy had been too engaged reading the new books that she forgot about the time. When she realized, she was surprised how late it had become. She closed the library in a hurry, after putting a bookmark in the book. She was fumbling at her bag to check for her keys when she saw the man. At first she didn't recognize Gajeel, but after seeing the piercings on his face (Gajeel had more piercings than anyone Levy had ever met before) and after seeing the long unruly black hair, she recognized him and walked slowly to him.

"Gajeel-san?" asked Levy in a timid voice. "What are you doing here?" The street around the library was empty, except the two of them and some feral wandering cats.

"Salamander asked me to walk you home."

"Salamander…?" Salamander was the name of Natsu's workplace, which own by himself. "You mean Natsu?"

"He heard you had an accident not too long ago. He has some business to do tonight and asked me to walk you home. He told me that because you just received new books, you'd be too busy reading and forget about going home on time."

Levy's cheeks blushed a little at the mention of her habit. "I see," said Levy, then she stared at Gajeel, uneasy."Are you okay with this? I mean we just met each other today and we don't know much about each other."

"D'you mean yer afraid, scared of me?" Gajeel asked Levy, bluntly.

"I-It's not like that!" Even though there's this _tiny_ part of her that _does_ feel that way, but really that wasn't the _real_ reason. She didn't want to trouble anyone, not to mention someone that she barely knew. "I-I admit that you are not someone that I would get acquainted with on a regular basis and if not because of Natsu, I wouldn't be brave enough to know someone as scary looking as you."

"Figures," snorted Gajeel.

"But that's not the case here!" exclaimed Levy, her words echoing in the empty street. "I don't like to trouble anybody. And we've just met this morning. It's strange for me. That's all."

"Really?" asked Gajeel, not believing Levy.

"It would be strange if I didn't feel that way," said Levy meeting Gajeel's eyes for the first time that night.

They stared at each other, assessing the reactions from each other.

"So, you don't want me to walk you home," said Gajeel in the end. Before Levy could reply, the man had turned and walked away.

"WAIT!" Without her realizing it, Levy chased after Gajeel and grabbed his wrist. "I didn't say that I don't want you to walk me home. I just said that it's strange for you to walk me home despite we barely known each other."

Gajeel stopped and turned to face Levy again. "So?"

"So… let's go home."

Levy didn't remember how the walk had turned out. But when she was safely tucked into her room, she felt like she was dreaming. What was that? Did she really just walk home with such a scary looking man? And why did she stop him when he turned to walk away from her? Was it her imagination when she saw a sad expression cross Gajeel's face when he said that she didn't want for him to walk her home? She had many questions. Later, the questions swirled inside her mind, almost made her restless in her sleep. _Almost._

Levy thought that Gajeel would only walk her home that one time, but the next day, and the next after, even until now, Gajeel always walked her home. She thought that Natsu had asked Gajeel to walk her home because of her recent accident. After a month went by and the guy was still walking her home, she asked Natsu about it when he came to deliver more new books. Natsu told her that he never asked Gajeel to walk her home.

For some reason, Levy didn't want to disturb their somewhat friendly atmosphere. That's why she didn't ask Gajeel about why he still walked her home. Even though she felt awkward and uncomfortable with Gajeel at first, she had to admit that when they were together, it was not bad. In fact, she was safe from worries and because of Gajeel's appearance, no one dared to bother them. They would walk silently in comfort or sometimes Levy would start a conversation.

It had been six months since they started, of Gajeel walking Levy home. They even had dinner (in a fast food restaurant) together several times. In the afternoon they were both busy with their own work; Gajeel was a mechanic in a garage. Levy was the one that would instigate questions first and from then they would exchange questions.

If someone asked about her relationship with Gajeel, she would say that they were friends… even though she also confused where their relationship stood. Then, yesterday, when Gajeel walked her home, he asked her if she wanted to go with him to see Rainbow Sakura. And not only that, he also asked to meet under the biggest Rainbow Sakura, a place that was _the place_ to confess one's feelings.

That was _the first time_ Gajeel had ever asked her to go to same place with him. When they had dinner together, Levy was the one that always suggested if he wanted to eat together. The man was surprisingly reserved for someone with such an intimidating look. His way of speaking was gruff yes, but not his actions. He was also not good with literature and books which was Levy's expertise, but when the topic was his interest, he could be very chatty like her when she talked about the books that interested her. That was the biggest factor why she accepted his offer to meet. She didn't want to turn down his first invitation to her. She had a feeling that if she turned down this one request, the man would never - _ever_ initiate something like this again.

But why would Gajeel ask to meet under the big Rainbow Sakura? There were many places with blooming Rainbow Sakura if they just wanted to see the flowers, it being Sakura season after all. She got back to her first question; did he want to confess something to her? But what? She doubted it would be a love confession. Their relationship wasn't like that. They were friends… or were they? Or... _what_?

Levy decided to use this time to make their relationship clear. Make it official; they were friends. Spending six months with Gajeel made her want to know him better. And what better way to know someone, than make them a friend? With determination, Levy searched Magnolia to buy a flower that would convey her feeling of wanting to become a friend to the mechanic - as the previous year's tradition of using flower to convey one's feelings had begun.

"Excuse me," said Levy after she fully entered the flower shop.

"Can we help you?" A voice answered Levy from her left. She saw a scarlet haired woman with a flowery apron approach her. "Welcome to Fairy Heart. Are you looking for flowers for a confession?"

"I-I do. NO! I mean I don't… Not that confession, no." Levy stumbled over her words. She just wanted to tell Gajeel to be friends with her- NOT to ask to be his lover. Yes, it's a confession, but NOT that confession. But the woman's question had settled her own intentions towards Gajeel. Levy blushed a deep red.

"Oh goodness, I _will_ be making a confession!" Levy squatted to the ground, the strength was gone from her legs; her heart was beating faster than ever but she felt weak.

The scarlet haired woman helped Levy to her feet and brought her inside the store. There were two other women in the room and they looked in confusion at their co-worker.

"She just realized that she will make a confession and lost her strength when she fully realized that fact," said the first woman to the other florists of Fairy Heart. Levy was seated in a chair and when she realized where she was, the silvery white haired woman was offering her a cup of tea.

"I'm Mira; drink this. It's your time. We'll wait until you're calm." Mira pointed to the red head, "This is Erza,-" and then pointed to the petite woman with long blonde hair, "-she's Mavis."

"Thanks," said Levy. She took the cup and sipped the warm tea. She sighed and her shoulders relaxed as she began to feel the effect of the chamomile tea.

"Can you tell us of why you were reacting like that?" Erza asked Levy. Levy looked to the three women. For whatever reason she had a hunch they could help with her 'situation'. Before she realized, she spilled her story and the complicated situation between her and Gajeel.

"Even if it's just a confession of me wanting to be a friend to him I feel that it's very personal. If he says that he could never see me as his friend and doesn't want to be one… I know I will burst into tears on the spot. Well, not literally but when I'm alone in my room that's the first thing I'll do." Levy ended her story to the three attentively listening women in a sad and resigned tone.

Erza, Mirajane and Mavis exchanged a serious look before they nodded, silently in agreement. After that, Erza and Mirajane disappeared into the shop, leaving Mavis and Levy alone in the room.

"You want flower that can convey- tell that you enjoy his company and also that say you want to become friends with this Gajeel," Mavis concluded.

"Yes," Levy agreed. "I want to use the tradition that started last year during the Hanami Festival, conveying my feelings using flowers. Because, to be honest, I just can't speak openly to him directly… I'm not that brave."

"Well then, we have a perfect bouquet arrangement for you!" Mavis clapped her hands happily.

"Really? Your shop was my last hope. The other flower shops said they were out of flowers."

"Well, I understand why the other flower shop are out of stock. Today's the last day of the Hanami Festival. And with the new tradition of using flower to convey feelings, it's really no wonder their stocks were sold out fast. And as for us, we're just been open for a week. Even though there are some that are buying from us, the season is nearing the end, so we still have some flowers to be sold."

"And you have really saved me. Thanks."

"The customer's happiness is our happiness too… No. We are happy to help anyone with our flowers, whenever they need it." Mavis smiled warmly at Levy and the tension Levy felt earlier melted away.

"Here's the bouquet," said Mira as she walked into the room. In her hand was a very beautiful collection of yellow roses and white chrysanthemums.

"It's very pretty…" said Levy mesmerized. She received the bouquet from Mira, eyes locked on the flowers. "What's the meaning of this bouquet?"

"Yellow roses symbolize friendship. Giving someone a yellow rose means that you are offering a friendship to that person. The chrysanthemum represents joy. You mentioned before that you enjoy what you have with Gajeel. This is a perfect combination for what you want to tell him. Also, a white chrysanthemum is a symbol of loyalty. Your genuine and pure feeling that want to be with him will be clearly delivered. It has another meaning, but I guess that information will be revealed in the near future," Mira explained. Levy wanted to ask Mira about the other meaning of the flower but then she decided not to. She thought that any beautiful flowers like the ones in her hand must not have a bad meaning.

Then Erza came to the room with a pen and small gift card, giving both items to Levy. "Write your message on this card. I doubt that Gajeel knows the meaning behind the bouquet. You still have to write your message to make it clear." Levy accepted the pen and note and nodded.

"Even though it's just a confession you want to be friends with him, a confession is still a confession. Don't think that your feelings of wanting to be a friend is lesser than someone that confess their love to another. Loving someone as a friend is also a kind of love. Write your message with the hope that he will receive your feelings. The flowers will also help you to convey your feelings. So, ganbatte!" said Mavis, encouraging Levy.

When Levy exited the flower shop she was ready to meet Gajeel. She turned to look behind and saw that Erza, Mavis, and Mira were sending her encouragement through the window of the shop. She waved goodbye and left to meet Gajeel.

_'Off we go!'_

* * *

Levy walked to the Rainbow Sakura, the bouquet clutched tight in her arms. She was nervous and her heart was pounding rather fast. When she arrived, she saw Gajeel standing under the big tree alone. No other pairs or couples were in sight._ 'It was really the end of the season. No one is around to confess anymore.'_

Gajeel noticed her and nodded his head, an indication that he had seen her. Levy slowly walked to Gajeel and stopped about a three steps away from the man.

"Hi."

"Yeah."

"How long have you been waiting?"

"Not long, just arrived."

"I see."

A gentle wind scattered Sakura petals around their feet.

"Those flowers… are they for me?" Gajeel couldn't help but see the large bouquet in Levy's hands.

"Hm, yeah," said Levy shyly. "I-I know that this is not your thing! But I want to tell you something by giving you these flowers. You know, about the tradition that started a year ago, of giving someone flowers to convey feelings. That's why I have them."

"What? You want to confess to me?"

"NO!" Levy's cheeks turned crimson. "Not_ that_ confession! I mean, it is some kind of confession, but NOT that confession…" She hid her face with the bouquet. This was really embarrassing! Oh, Kami-sama, she shouldn't have brought flowers for Gajeel. Now that she thought about it again, he was not the kind of person that would be happy to receive flowers - from _anyone_. What was she thinking of giving him flowers?! _'I want to find a hole and hide myself in there!'_

"Levy, I want to tell you something," said Gajeel solemnly. "After you hear what I want to say, you can tell me whatever you want to say… and _if_ you still want to give me those flowers ."

In the six months Levy had spent getting acquainted with Gajeel, the man never called her by her given name. He always called her shrimp, a nickname that he had given her. She had protested once, demanding Gajeel use her proper name, but the man just smirked and said that he would only use her name when the time was right. He kept his word and never called her Levy - not until now.

Hearing Gajeel use _her name_, Levy focused all her attention back to the tall man. "What it is?"

"I was the one that hit you six months ago."

"...What?" All colour drained from Levy's face. Never she had been this shocked in her entire life.

"You were in an accident six month ago, weren't you? A big motorbike almost hit you one night near the library. The one that driving that motorbike was me."

Levy didn't know what Gajeel wanted to tell her, but she wasn't prepared to hear about this, _this_ big revelation! She gazed at Gajeel unblinking, her mind processing Gajeel's words slowly. Then something clicked.

"Then, that time, when Natsu came with you for the first time…"

"I already knew it was you, you're the one that I almost hit with my bike. I wanted to make amends for my mistake. That's why I insisted on tagging along when Salamander wanted to deliver your new books. I told him that I wanted to go to the library. At first he didn't want to let me to join, but I told him about the real reason. I didn't know you well enough to apologize, and I didn't know how else I could approach you without scaring you away. All this time he always bitching at me to tell you the truth... I still feel really guilty for almost hitting you back then."

"How can you know that it was me that you almost hit?" Levy remembered, at the time of the accident, the street was quite dark because the street lamp was broken. Maybe that's why Gajeel didn't see her walking and when he did see her, it was too late for him to stop. Even though he tried his best to avoid her, the street was too narrow for his big motorbike to turn and make a sudden stop that in the end almost hit Levy.

"You saved my life once."

"What?" Another revelation for Levy. Would he stop surprising her? "I've met you before? When did this happen?"

"Two years ago around this time, I quit my gang, Phantom Lord. Jose, the boss, was not happy with me to say the least. That sorry ass still has other henchmen doing his underhanded bidding, but he's upset to lose even one thug," explained Gajeel. "I decided to turn over a new leaf and not get involved in any other shady business, ever again. Just a day after I quit, his men ganged up on me and had beaten me to a pulp. It's not that I'm not strong enough to beat them- but I don't want to be involved with them anymore." Gajeel looked up at the Rainbow Sakura. "I was leaning on this big tree and thought that my life was shit. Everyone that I knew was someone that always took advantage of me or had some kind of motive for doing something. I was fed-up with that world. Someone I know almost become a victim because of this, that's partly why I decided to quit. But before I was given any chance to have a new life, I was beaten and they also took all my money. I almost gave up trying to get another chance on life and thought that my hope to turn over a new leaf would just only be a dream... That's when you popped up."

"...We met here? Under this tree?"

"I was injured because of the beating. My eyes were swollen and they cut my hair. I understand if you don't recognize me. Looking in the mirror then, I barely could recognize myself."

Levy tried to remember the event that Gajeel talked about. And then she thought of something. Her eyes widened. "Edward?" Levy had called Gajeel Edward back then because the man wouldn't tell her his name and his hair cut reminded her of the character in one of her favorite films, but minus the scissorhands.

"I am," confirmed Gajeel. "You didn't know who I was but you still treated my injury; you're the first person that helped me freely without wanting something in return. Your genuine concern and care gave me the courage to believe that there are still good people in this world - and if I look hard enough, I can also find them. And thanks to you, I am what I am now."

"I-I don't think I did much back then. I just helped a person in need. That's all." Levy could feel her cheeks redden again because of Gajeel's praise.

"You really have no idea how much your kindness influenced me," said Gajeel. "There's no way I could forget you or what you did for me. And when I saw you that night, if it weren't for Lily, I would rather get in an accident with my bike then harm you."

"Who's Lily?"

"It's… my cat. Lily is the short for Pantherlily."

"So, you almost hit me because you carried your cat back then?"

"I was in a hurry to get to the vet. Someone had poisoned him and because I returned late that day, when I saw him, his body was already weak. The street that you walked that night was a shortcut to the vet."

Levy knew there was a veterinarian named Lisanna with a small practice on the block of the street where the accident happened. If Gajeel wanted to lie, he could have spun any wild reason at all. Who could have guessed he was a cat lover?

"After I rushed Lily to the vet, I went back to where I left you. But you were already gone. I did some research after you helped me dressing my wound, and I knew that you worked as a librarian in the Magnolia Library. I wanted to go and say sorry. I had intended to pay for your hospital bill if it was serious. But… I doubted you wanted to see me, especially since I almost hit you. The day Salamander wanted to deliver new books to the library was the day he took his car from the workshop. That's how I joined him and went to the library to meet you."

Gajeel stopped his explanation and stared directly at Levy's brown eyes. "The reason that I asked you to see the Rainbow Sakura with me is to tell you this story. I know that this place is famous for confessions. And that is my confession to you; I'm the one that almost killed you."

Levy stared back at Gajeel's red eyes, her face unreadable. "Is that all you want to tell me?"

"That's all."

The two stared unblinking for seconds that felt like minutes. Then, Levy walked towards Gajeel. She approached slowly, determination shining in her eyes. "You said that you will listen to whatever I say after you spoke. So, now is my turn to say something to you." Levy inhaled and let out a loud exhale. "I want you to become my friend. And I will not take no for an answer." Levy offered the flower bouquet to Gajeel.

Gajeel kept his hands in his pockets and looked at Levy confused. "Why?"

"My words were clear enough. I want to be your friend."

"I-"

"I heard your explanation already and that's my answer if you're seeking my forgiveness still." Levy cut off whatever Gajeel wanted to say. "It's my way to say I forgive you, by becoming your friend and lets put our past behind. And let me repeat again, I will not take no for an answer." A small smile spread on Levy's lips. "About the accident, it wasn't like you wanted to harm me. It was an _accident_. I'm not that petty to hold a grudge for something that was unintentional. I really want to become your friend, Gajeel. I want to get to know you better as a friend. I really enjoyed these past six months that I spent with you. Please don't take my happiness by saying that you don't want to become my friend."

Gajeel took the flowers from Levy, fishing the card from the bouquet and read: 'I WANT TO BE YOUR FRIEND,' written in capitals. "You're really forgiving you know."

"Well, that's one of my good points if I may say. It's not bad to have that kind of person as your friend, you know." Levy winked at Gajeel.

Gajeel snorted but then his lips turned up in a big grin. "Weren't we friends before?"

"To be honest, I don't know what kind of relationship we had before. That's why I want to make it official, that you and I are friends."

"How old are we? Do you have to say it out loud if you want to become friends with someone?" asked Gajeel, amused.

"I blame _you_ for our vague relationship, sir. You're too quiet for a scary looking person. I can't suddenly ask you what kind of relationship that we have, can I? That's way too awkward for my liking."

"Whatever floats your boat, shrimp."

"THAT! Don't ever call me _that_ again! My name is Levy and you have to say it correctly!" Levy yelled at Gajeel; annoyed, both hands on her waist. This man was really infuriating!

"...Do you really want me to use your name?" asked Gajeel in a serious tone of voice.

"Yes."

Suddenly Gajeel pulled Levy into his arms, arms locked around Levy's waist and leaned his face near to Levy.

"Ga-Gajeel?!" stuttered Levy, conscious with how near their faces were. Her hands were flailing, didn't know where she should touch him.

"Levy," said Gajeel, only above a whisper.

Levy's heartbeat was pounding fast, threatening to leave her chest. "Wh-What…?"

"I'm gonna do something. And just push me hard if you don't like it. I'll get the message." Gajeel closed ther gap and kissed Levy on the lips. Levy's eyes widened. The man started to move and their kiss turned from a peck to a full on make-out. In the midst of the kissing, Levy's shock subsided and she began to enjoy the kiss. Her hands crept around Gajeel's body.

_'Kami-sama…'_

Gajeel pulled back and looked at Levy who was blushing hotly. "I've fallen for you since you helped me a year ago. I didn't realize the feeling that I have was love, not until the night that I almost hit you. I really panicked when I saw it was you I'd almost hit. I'd kill myself, really, if anything happened to you. I call you shrimp because if I use your name, I can't suppress the feelings that started to grow inside me. That's why I told myself that if I ever used your name, that would be the time I tell you the truth. About the accident and about my feelings as well. So,-" Gajeel tightened his arms around Levy's waist, "-what's your answer?"

"I'm not too sure myself to be honest," said Levy moving her hands on Gajeel's broad chest. "I want to be your friend. That's it… but that's just the beginning. You've offered me more than I ever considered. And… I can't say that I don't like it."

She liked Gajeel, yes. Did she love him? She guessed she had to find out if her feelings were strong enough to be love. But she knew one thing - her feelings for Gajeel were pure and she was willing to find out more.

"Is that a yes?"

"Kiss me and I'll tell you my answer later."

With a wide smirk, Gajeel swept Levy off her feet and gave her a passionate kiss. They were very unaware of three pairs of eyes looking at them from under cover of a smaller group of Sakura trees, not far from where they were.

"I was right to add white chrysanthemum to the bouquet!" said one of the owners of the three pairs of eyes. "Their love is devoted towards each other, even if they haven't realized it themselves."

"Their story is very sweet! Ahhh! I love this kind of love story!" said another voice, stars in their eyes.

The last person nodded her head in agreement. "It's great that we helped them." The other two also nodded their heads with delight.

Yellow roses - friendship. Chrysanthemum - joy and a white chrysanthemum meant that your feeling were genuine and pure… Also, it declared devoted love; a love that was obviously shared between Gajeel and Levy.

* * *

**To be continued**


	3. III - Happy 222 Days (Part 1)

Hei guys! Hope all of you are doing good. Here's another chapter for the story. May you enjoy the story then :)

All the editing credits goes to my wonderful beta reader, **nalufever** ^^

Miyuu

* * *

III - _**Happy Two Hundred and Twenty-two Days! (Part 1)**_

* * *

"The day after, Levy returned to Fairy Heart and told us what happened between her and Gajeel. She also thanked us for the encouragement that we gave. She told us that she wanted to recommend us to her circle of friends which we accepted with delight!" said Mavis joyfully.

"I didn't know that Levy-chan had such a sweet story between her and her boyfriend," said Lucy. "I'll have to ask her all the juicy details later!" She would beg Levy to have a sleepover and make the librarian spill all the beans. '_Ho-ho-ho!_' Lucy cackled inside.

Lucy understood and could feel Mavis' excitement. If she was also one of the witnesses of Levy and Gajeel's story… She grimaced inside. _'That was only a dream. I won't get my hopes up again.'_

"I know," said Mavis. "And since then, little by little, all the citizens in Magnolia will come and buy flowers from us. It turns out that Levy wrote about us on her blog and she has many followers." Lucy's interest piqued. She would have scanned the net as soon as she arrived back at work. Then, she remembered something else she wanted to ask Mavis.

"By the way, who is Natsu?"

"Natsu is someone that owns a delivery service, called 'Salamander Delivery.' He manages the business by himself and he's also our friend, as well as Levy and Gajeel's friend. He helps people deliver things in this town. Our shop offers delivery service and we use his business," explained Mavis. "In fact he'll be in the shop today. You can meet him later if you want."

After Mavis finished speaking, she could hear a voice calling for the three florists by name, loudly. "Erza! Mira! Mavis-san! Oi! Where are you?!"

"Speak of the devil," said Mavis. "That's Natsu. Pardon me." Mavis excused herself and exited the meeting room to meet with Natsu. Lucy turned her attention to Mira and Erza.

"What kind of relationship do they have? Are they-"

"They're not lovers if that's what you mean," said Mira, cutting Lucy from making a false assumption. "They're family."

"Are they siblings?"

"Yes. Siblings by marriage."

"WHAT? She's married!" exclaimed Lucy in surprise. "But there's no ring on her left finger. And she's still very young…"

"Don't be fooled by her appearance. There's a reason she isn't wearing her ring. And even though she looks like that, she is the oldest among us three," explained Mira. "Mavis-san has been married for five years to Natsu's older brother."

"I think she's the youngest amongst the three of you…" muttered Lucy. She was not someone usually easily fooled, and she took pride in her higher than average intelligence . She was someone that was always among the top students as a student. But since coming this afternoon to Fairy Heart, the things that came out from her mouth were either a shocking exclamation or a plea for her life. Really, not something that she would ever say in everyday conversation. Then she realized something about what Mira had said. "Wait, she's been married for five years? Isn't that the exact amount of years Fairy Heart has been around?"

Mira and Erza exchanged glances. "Mavis-san has her own story- but now isn't the right time. That's something to be shared later," said Erza after a bit of a pause. "Instead, I'll tell you another story. A story of two hundred and twenty-two days."

"Eh?" asked Lucy confused. "What do you mean by that?"

"Do you know that if you have met someone, direct or indirectly, and have spent two hundred and twenty-two days with that person, _direct_ or _indirectly_ ,you have to celebrate it?"

"What?" What did Erza mean? That was the first time Lucy had ever heard something so bizzare like that. While she was thinking, she also cringed inwardly for the many times she'd yelped, 'what.' _'Nice way to make a good impression on people, Lucy.'_ Lucy berating herself. But this latest statement was one of the most outrageous and bizarre things Lucy had ever heard! She'd be willing to bet a whole month of rent that anyone would act like her if they'd heard this one particular wild bit of information.

"I bet you didn't know that, because I had never heard that kind of bizarre celebration," said Erza, making Lucy even more confused. Then Lucy looked to Mirajane.

"Don't look at me like that. I'm just as confused as you are."

Lucy tilted her head to looked at Erza again. "Elaborate please?"

Erza folded her hands while she search in her memory of one particular day in the past. "If you're wondering, I can assure you there isn't a celebration like that." said Erza bluntly. "But turned out someone had an anniversary and wanted to celebrate it. On one sunny day four years ago, someone came to Fairy Heart to buy flowers who said she wanted to celebrate a special event by confessing to someone…"

* * *

_**Four years ago**_

A woman with wavy blue hair that reached just below her shoulder blades was pacing back and forth in front of Fairy Heart. She had been doing that for ten minutes.

Juvia Lockser, the woman's name, had heard about this particular shop from Levy, her best friend's girlfriend. Levy told her that people in Fairy Heart had given her the courage to start a relationship with Gajeel, her boyfriend. _'I just want to be friends with him!'_ Juvia remembered Levy's defensive words when she asked if she'd been the one to confess to Gajeel first, and how Levy's cheeks turned a bit pink. _'But without that first step, we wouldn't be as we are now.'_ The smile that spread on Levy's face was full of happiness. _'I am really grateful for the florists at Fairy Heart.'_

Juvia was on a mission that day. She wanted to surprise her idol with a gift. Moreover, she wanted to celebrate something with him! She also wanted to tell the idol something that had been stuck in her mind since she'd read his article a week ago. That's why yesterday she'd asked Levy (she and Levy had become friends once Gajeel had become Levy's boyfriend) about her opinion on this matter. Juvia was puzzled as to what was the best gift to give to her idol for the celebration. Levy suggested flowers; and after Juvia thought about it, she found the idea appealing. It would also convey her feelings that were blooming in that moment; blooming with affection towards her idol. And Levy had recommended Fairy Heart if she wanted to buy flowers, which what Juvia was doing now.

At first when Levy suggested to give flower to him, the idea was _really_ appealing. But when she did her morning practice that day in the gym swimming pool, there was an uneasy feeling growing inside her. The thing was, she couldn't pinpoint exactly what had made her uneasy. Was it the choice of gift? Should she _not_ give flower as the gift? _Or what ?_

Juvia was not the type of person who would rely on someone or something. Her history, when she was still in the same gang with Gajeel, had taught her that she couldn't rely on something or someone else, except herself. The last straw and strongest lesson had been when her supposed boyfriend, Bora, cheated on her; and then Jose, her boss in the gang, framed her for something that she didn't do.

She was abandoned by her parents and didn't have many friends. One thing after another happened and then she realized, her old gang was the only thing that she had. If not for Gajeel, one of her acquaintances that later became her best friend, she would never have thought to quit the gang; to turn new over a new leaf. She liked to swim and had decided that she would try to become a professional swimmer. She was only twenty years old after all, still not too late to be one if she wanted to be serious with that career. She was still working hard to become one when something happened that almost made her gave up on her dream to become a pro. That's when she saw her idol on television and his words had helped save her from depression.

Gray Fullbuster, an ice figure skater, had become Juvia's idol ever since that fateful day. Juvia saw the interview broadcast on TV; one of his quotes resonated deeply with Juvia. Although it wasn't directly told to Juvia, but she felt that it was like Gray had spoken one particular sentence directly to her._ 'Don't ever give up on yourself.'_ Juvia remembered that Gray's face had been a close-up shot when he said the words. His eyes looked straight at the camera, as if the man could see right through the lens._ 'To be honest, my past is not a good one. But that isn't something to make you think that your present and future will be the same. Your past makes who you are now, it's not something to be sorry about. Use that for a push to get a better future. One of my secrets of being successful figure skater is to never give up on trying, however hard the pose or choreo that I have to do. And don't forget that you are not alone. Fortunately I have my team that will back me up. If somehow you are alone right now, all you have to do is look around.'_ Since then she tried not to entirely rely on herself and when she told Gajeel about this, the man just snorted and told her_ 'About time you realize that,'_ in his gruff voice while gave her a pat on her shoulder.

Gray had given her encouragement and a push for her not to give up; that made her see herself in a different light. She could be successful, no matter her past.

Since then, Juvia had religiously followed Gray's activities. She knew where Gray lived, which was surprisingly not too far from where she lived. She often would fantasize that she and Gray were friends and they would hang out together. On her free day of practicing, sometimes she would go to Gray's block and watch him from afar. She even had a list of whoever interacted with Gray; mostly, it was his team in ice skating and his neighbour that turned out to be Natsu. He was Levy and Gajeel's indirect matchmaker, who Gray would bicker with on a daily basis. She_ almost_ became a stalker, but Gajeel reminded (reprimanded to be exact) her that men didn't like that kind of woman.

Juvia admired Gray, no, she liked Gray… Okay, she LOVED Gray. At first she was content with only watching Gray from afar. But, because of a particular article (she had complained - _terrorized_ \- the magazine that let out that blasted article) that criticized Gray over a recent incident, she decided that she would meet Gray. She had something that she wanted to tell him. And, if possible, she wanted to cheer him up. And the perfect day to do all that was on that day!

Juvia stopped her pacing when she remembered why she wanted to buy flowers to begin with. It was for Gray and whenever Gray popped into her mind, she would feel giddy and butterflies would start fluttering inside her stomach. But then she remembered all the bad luck signs she had seen since the morning and became gloomy.

Since the uneasy feeling that came out of nowhere that morning, she had been seeing bad luck signs. Like a black cat crossing the path on the way home from her morning practice. Then she almost stepped on dog shit. A car almost ran her over in the narrow street. Then before she arrived at Fairy Heart she also saw a line of crows flying in the sky! Lots of misfortunes happened in a row since morning. The uneasy feeling grew tenfold from seeing all the bad luck signs.

_'What is this uneasy feeling? Is it some kind of premonition that something bad will happen? It's really frustrating!'_

When she was still busy lost in her thoughts, the door of the flower shop opened and out came a woman with silvery white hair.

"Hello there, I'm Mirajane," the woman greeted Juvia with a kind smile. "I could see from inside the shop that you've been pacing back and forth for almost fifteen minutes. Can I help you with something?"

Juvia turned to Mira. The warm smile of the florist had won her over. Whatever uneasy feeling that she felt, it wouldn't change her mind to go and see Gray. She would think about it later. First things first! Time to buy her idol a gift.

"Juvia wants to buy flowers," said Juvia. "She was recommended by someone that if she wanted to buy flowers, Fairy Heart is the best place."

"Oh, that's good to hear!" Mira looked around the girl to look for this Juvia. "So, where is this Juvia you mentioned? Are you her friend?"

"Juvia is here. And Juvia is Juvia, not her friend."

Mira stared to the woman in front of her in blatant confusion. The woman stared back with indifference. They stared at each other for quite some time, before something clicked in Mira's mind. "You're Juvia."

Juvia nodded. "Juvia is Juvia."

"Oh dear me! Sorry for mistaking you for someone else." Mira apologized when she realized her mistake. "Your way of addressing yourself is quite unique. I didn't realize it at first and assumed you as someone else. Has anybody ever asked you why are you speaking from the third point of view?"

"They have and they also told Juvia that Juvia is weird. You are kind to say that Juvia's way of speaking is unique. Thank you."

"You're welcome," said Mira. "I'm Mirajane, but you can call me Mira. You want to buy flowers, don't you? Please come inside. I will help you with whatever you will be needing the flowers for."

Juvia followed Mira inside. Her nose was greeted by the pleasant fragrance of flowers in season. With the warm greeting from the florist and the pleasing fragrance not to mention the colorful pretty flowers, Juvia felt that she had come to the right place. It's not that she knew many flower shops, but she would trust in her intuition for this matter.

"Welcome to Fairy Heart."

"Welcome!"

Two new voices greeted Juvia when she walked a bit further into the shop. If Juvia remembered correctly from Levy's story, these other two florists would be Erza and Mavis.

"So," Mira turned to Juvia and dusted small specks of dirt from her apron. "What kind of flowers you want to buy? To whom will you give these flowers to?"

"Juvia wants to buy flower to celebrate something. The recipient will be someone that Juvia admires."

"I love celebrations!" said Mira excitedly. "This person must be great to be admired by a lovely woman like you."

"Thank you for the compliment," said Juvia, blushing a bit from the praise.

"What do you want to celebrate?"

"Juvia wants to celebrate Happy Two Hundred and Twenty-two Days."

"...Come again?"

"It's called Happy Two Hundred and Twenty-two Days."

Mira's smile was still intact on her face but her mind was racing ahead to search her memory if there WAS ever an event like that. She was quite knowledgeable for this kind of thing. _'Nope. I can't recall if there's an event called Happy Two Hundred and Twenty-two Days.'_ When Mira tried to ask Erza and Mavis through eye contact, the other two shook their heads in furious denial of such a celebration. For Erza to not know something like this was understandable. But if Mavis also DIDN'T know, the event must be some kind of new or mysterious thing. She _was_ a walking library after all.

"...Can I ask you what kind of celebration is that?" asked Mira kindly. "Because this is the first time I've ever heard the name of the celebration. Please enlighten me."

"Well, it's an event you celebrate after you spend exactly two hundred and twenty-two days days with someone."

"Where's the origin of the event come from?"

"Nowhere. Juvia made it up by herself."

Mira stared at Juvia, blinking several times. She expected Juvia to explain all the details of the event, but her answer that was unexpected had made Mira even more confused. "Hai?"

"Juvia wants to celebrate the day because number two hundred and twenty-two has been popping out recently wherever Juvia goes. And Juvia has searched on Google for the meaning of the number." said Juvia not realizing Mira's confusion, or even if she had noticed, she didn't bother to address it. "Juvia keeps seeing the number in her days and even in her sleep. Recently Juvia always wakes up at twenty-two minutes past two. When someone keeps waking up at that time, it is said that this person has to pay attention to the people who are showing up in this person's world."

She had counted and search all over Google for the meaning of that day. The meaning of the number two hundred and twenty-two, that was how long Juvia had known Gray since the first time she saw him on TV. She had been seeing the number for several times when her mind wandered to think about Gray. When she looked into the number further, it was really an auspicious number. Perfect!

"Number two hundred and twenty-two also means relationship. After Juvia gives thought about the matter, one name come to mind. It's Juvia's idol's name, Gray Fullbuster."

"You know Gray?" Erza cut Juvia off suddenly. She had been listening in silence beside Mavis, not too far from Juvia and Mira were. When Gray's name was mentioned, she stopped her activity and approached the duo. Gray was her friend that also like a brother to her. They had been in the same orphanage before he was taken by her mentor and she by Grandpa Rob. But they still stayed in contact and would meet occasionally just to hang out.

"Gray is my friend and I never knew that he knows someone as lovely as you are." said Erza, assessing Juvia.

"Because we are not friends," admitted Juvia. "We are not even acquaintances. Gray-sama is someone that Juvia adores... And someone that had saved Juvia's life." Juvia's eyes turned soft, her cheeks glowing pink, and the sight was really adorable to Mira and Erza.

"I see that love's flying in the air now. Are you in love with Gray?" asked Mira kindly.

"Yes. Juvia loves Gray-sama." said Juvia in a soft but firm tone. After that a loud squeal could be heard inside Fairy Heart, courtesy of two starry eyed women named Mirajane and Mavis. When Mavis heard the 'l' word, she left whatever she was doing and joined the other three. Then when the love feeling was confirmed, she couldn't hold her excitement any longer to hear another love story. She was a hopeless romantic after all, together with Mira and Erza.

"Another love story!" exclaimed Mavis, bright stars shining in her eyes. "That's great!"

"I know!" said Mira with the same excitement as Mavis.

"So, you want to buy flowers and will give them to Gray I guess?" asked Erza. "Oh, please don't mind them. It's just they are suckers for love stories." Erza tried to reassure Juvia when the latter looked at Mira and Mavis with a strange look. "You told us that Gray saved your life. Can I know the story behind that?"

"Well… Gray-sama didn't save Juvia's life directly." Juvia paused, "At one time, Juvia was bullied by her teammate because of her dark past. Juvia felt really depressed because of the situation. Then Juvia saw Gray-sama on TV. His words encouraged her and made her see herself in a different light, that Juvia can also be happy whatever past she has." A small smile formed on Juvia's lips. "Even though Gray-sama didn't say it directly to Juvia, but at that time, Juvia felt that Gray-sama told the exact words to Juvia- for Juvia only. And it saved Juvia from depression and for her to not give up on trying to turn over a new leaf."

Juvia would never forget that fateful day. She felt that it was fate that made Juvia saw Gray on the TV. If it wasn't for him, she was certain that her life would not be the same as now. "Juvia just wants to celebrate the two hundred and twenty-two days she has known Gray-sama. It doesn't hold any purpose except to say thank you to him. Juvia's love is one sided, Juvia knows that. That's why before Juvia admits her feelings to Gray-sama, at least she has to be friends with him first. Juvia has decided to give him flowers and she was recommended by Levy-san to go here to buy flowers. Please help Juvia to make a pretty flower bouquet as a gift." Juvia didn't know why she told these florists so much about herself. But she remembered Levy's stories of how the florists had helped her at her time of need. They had something that made Juvia want to tell her stories to them.

"Don't worry. We will surely create the perfect bouquet so your feelings can be conveyed to Gray." said Erza then she disappeared to the inner part of the shop. For the other two (after they came back from La-La-Land), Mavis followed to where Erza had gone while Mira showed Juvia around the shop.

Not long after, Erza came out with a bouquet of flowers. When Juvia saw them, she was mesmerized by how beautiful the arrangement was. Her eyes followed the bouquet until it was right in front of her. "It's beautiful."

"It's a combination of carnations," explained Erza to Juvia while giving her the arrangement. "Red carnations symbolize admiration. Gray is your idol and you have admired him for quite some time. Then we have pink carnations; those mean that you are grateful to him. And the last is the dark red one. This one has a deeper meaning than the other two. It symbolizes affection and also-"

"Love," said Juvia suddenly, interrupting Erza's explanation. "Juvia once read a book from the library and Juvia likes the book very much. The main character was given a dark red carnation by her loved one. The flower symbolizes love. It has become Juvia favorite flower since then." Juvia smelled the flowers and her nose was greeted by a very pleasing fragrance. She sighed softly, feeling relaxed.

"It's good to hear that you like it." Mavis came out from inside and she gave Juvia a card and pen. "Write down what you want to tell Gray in here. I also know Gray and he isn't someone that know much about flowers. Say it straight so he can understand your feelings."

"Juvia understands." Juvia took the pen and card then wrote down her feelings. After that she bowed to Mira, Erza and Mavis to say thank you for their help. The three smiled at her to encourage her. Then off she went to meet Gray.

* * *

**To be continued**

* * *

I decided to split Juvia and Gray's story into two parts because the story has become too long for one chapter to be posted to my liking. Sorry for the cliffhanger. You will get the result on Juvia's visit to Gray's house on the next chapter. Please be patient :)

I got the inspiration for Juvia and Gray's story from Fairy Tail side story that was focusing on these two. And I tried to tone down Juvia's 'craziness' on Gray. I hope she didn't become OOC from how I portray here in here.

See u guys on the next chapter. Jaa~~!


	4. III - Happy 222 Days (Part 2)

Hello guys! Here's the second part of Gray and Juvia's story. Let's find out what happened after Juvia visited Gray's house.

May you enjoy the story :D

All the editing cerdits goes to my beta reader **nalufever** :)

Miyuu

* * *

III - _**Happy Two Hundred and Twenty-two Days! (Part 2)**_

* * *

It was the day after Juvia came and much to the florists' surprise, she returned with a very gloomy and dejected expression; her eyes red from crying.

"Juvia! What happened to you?" Mira held Juvia and tried to comfort her with a hug. As if a switch had flipped, Juvia began crying and sobbing hard as soon as Mira hugged her.

"HUAAAAAAA!" Juvia cried in a loud voice. When she remembered what happened yesterday with Gray, her legs went wobbly, and if not for Mira she would have surely crumbled to the ground.

"Come on, let's get inside first." Mira caressed Juvia's back to console the crying woman. She brought Juvia to the meeting room and let her sit. Mavis and Erza followed them, also tried to comfort the still crying woman.

Juvia cried for fifteen minutes before she began to hiccup and her cries slowly subsided and turned into a low whimper. Mira gave her tea after her cries began to subside. "Thank you," muttered Juvia.

"Can you tell us why you were crying your eyes out? And from how red your eyes already are, I bet you've been crying before you come here." Mira eyed the woman with concern. What happened yesterday that made Juvia become such a mess like this?

Juvia just stared at the cup of tea in her lap. "Juvia went to Gray-sama's house," said Juvia softly. "She knows the address because she is living near where Gray-sama's lives and has seen him several times when she passed his house. She knocked on his house and was greeted by Gray-sama. He was confused at first because he didn't know who Juvia was and he asked her who she was. Juvia told him that Juvia was his fan and also his neighbour that lives in the next block. Then he asked about the flowers. Juvia told him that the flowers were for him. He asked for what. Then Juvia told him about wanting to celebrate the two hundred and twenty-two days Juvia has known him. Juvia also told him that she was thankful because Gray-sama had saved Juvia indirectly by his words when she saw his interview on TV." Juvia stopped talking and her tears began to well up again as she remembered what happened after.

"There must be something else that happened," said Mira with certainty. "I also know Gray and he isn't someone that can make a woman cry like what you did before… Or has he turned into some kind of jerk that needs to be punished?" A crack sounded as Mira broke a tea saucer that she held and Erza from forming a knuckle. A dark aura swam around the two florists. "I guess it's long overdue to visit the boys, shouldn't we, Erza?"

"It is." But then something was clicked on Erza's mind and she turned in horror to the rest of the occupants of the shop. "I forgot. Yesterday was the anniversary of Ur's death."

"Oh my…" Mira covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes widened in realization. "I also forgot about that."

"That's why when Juvia left the shop yesterday, I felt I forgot about something. I felt uneasy for the rest of the day." Erza felt guilty that she forgot such an important thing. Now the three florists knew why Juvia was crying.

"Juvia also felt uneasy yesterday for unknown reason," Juvia's voice began to wavered. "She had felt like that since the morning practice and she still felt like that for the rest of the day. Turned out yesterday was not the two hundred and twenty-second day. Juvia miscalculated. The supposed day should be today. Juvia searched on the net to see if was there any meaning for two hundred and twenty-one days… But there's nothing. It doesn't mean anything." A sob tore from Juvia's lips. "No wonder Gray-sama would act like that towards Juvia." This time a lone tear cascaded down Juvia's cheek.

"Yesterday was the anniversary of his mentor's death, Ur. It happened when he was still young and she lost her life because of Gray. She saved Gray from drowning in an ice pool when they were practicing." stated Mavis. "Every year on the anniversary he will visit Ur's tomb with Ur's daughter, Ultear. But this year Ultear was hospitalized because she was injured during their practice for the upcoming tournament. There's an article about this if I'm not wrong." Mavis referred to the recent article that criticizing Gray. "And from what I've heard, her injury was because Gray miscalculated the angle for one of the poses they should perform later when they practiced. The pose is difficult, that's why a little mistake can be fatal."

"I guess Gray was not in his best mood when you saw him yesterday." Juvia nodded slowly, answering Mira's question.

"Gray-sama, he… He said that he didn't want the flowers and asked Juvia to leave. But Juvia was persistent and didn't want to leave him. Juvia has something that she wants to say to Gray-sama regarding the recent incident. But before Juvia could say whatever she wanted to, Gray-sama told Juvia to leave again in a sharp tone. He said that he didn't appreciate anyone that was bothering him on that day… Juvia didn't know that yesterday was the anniversary of his mentor's death. Seeing Gray-sama grumpy like that, Juvia decided that she would leave and not bother Gray-sama any longer. But at least she wanted to give the flowers as appreciation for her idol. When she tried to give him the flowers," Juvia gulped and bit her lower lip. "He told Juvia that she was annoying and didn't know that no means no. He said that he hates women that was persistent and clingy. He was okay with his fans but… He said that he would rather not have Juvia as one of his fans. After saying that, he closed his door with a loud bang." Tears began to fall from Juvia's eyes. "Juvia didn't remember how she got home. She started bawling her eyes out when she realized that Gray-sama was angry and hated her when she was inside her room. One thing that Juvia remembers is that she gave the bouquet to one woman that she passed by on her way home. After that, when Juvia realized, she has come to Fairy Heart." She began sobbing again after she finished her story.

Mira, Erza and Mavis exchanged a look. Then without speaking they nodded in agreement. Mira and Mavis disappeared from the meeting room, leaving Erza and Juvia alone.

"Juvia, look at me." Erza's authoritative tone made Juvia immediately look at her. "I'm very sorry for what Gray has done. Even though he's grieving, that was unjustified."

Juvia shook her head. "Juvia doesn't blame Gray-sama. Juvia just feels very sad that the chancet of Juvia becoming Gray-sama's friend had decreased to..._ zero_."

"Don't give up yet." Erza placed her hands on Juvia's shoulders. "Your chance to be friends with Gray is still possible. In building a relationship, there's no such thing as giving up if one of the party still wants to make it happen. I can talk to you like this because I know how you feel; wanting to be connected to someone, even though that person seems to not want to have any kind of relationship with you." Erza gave a bittersweet smile. "I'm also waiting for a certain someone, you see."

"Erza-san…"

"You said that today is the real two hundred and twenty-two days anniversary. Yesterday, I was curious with this thing you mentioned in regards to number two hundred and twenty-two. I also internet searched the meaning of number two hundred and twenty-two. And it's a very great number for a relationship. It says that you are on the right track and for you to have faith and to keep trusting. If you haven't tried your best until there's nothing you can do, don't you ever dare give up. Your hard work and perseverance will not be in vain. And whether today is the real two hundred and twenty-two days or not, it doesn't matter. Just have faith in yourself, okay?"

"...Okay." Juvia nodded. Her energy that had disappeared the moment Gray slammed his door on her yesterday was beginning to come back, slowly filling her body. Her resolution was firm. She would not give up on her Gray-sama. "Thank you Erza-san. Juvia will try anything that she can do. Even if there's no option remaining, Juvia _will_ make the option herself. Juvia will NEVER give up on Gray-sama!" She felt pumped up and ready to try again to be friends with Gray!

"Good answer," said Erza, pulling her hands from Juvia's shoulders. But her next words surprised Juvia. "Let's go now."

"Hai?"

"Here's the bouquet!" said Mira, suddenly appearing beside Erza. The same type of bouquet arrangement from yesterday was in her hands.

"Don't forget the card!" This time, Mavis appeared on Erza's other side. "Say what you want to say clearly. And in this case, boldly!" chirped Mavis excitedly.

"Eto… Juvia thinks that she needs more time to prepare her heart before meeting Gray-sama again," said Juvia nervously. "She is not ready today."

"Don't worry," said Erza reassuring Juvia. "We'll go with you."

"WHAT?!" Juvia almost fell from her chair. That really came out of nowhere!

"You have to strike while the iron is hot. Don't waste your time." Erza tried to reason with Juvia.

"I closed the shop while waiting for you to write your message. Remember, clearly and boldly ." said Mira, emphasizing the last word.

"I'll call Natsu to tell him that we'll visit him." Mavis took her smartphone from her pocket and went to the back to make a call.

Erza was standing next to Juvia while nodding to herself about something that was on her mind. As for Juvia, she was still trying to process the whole thing…

* * *

"What's going on here?"

"Is that how you greet your friends Gray?"

Gray opened his door when he heard someone knock, not expecting to see three ladies standing there, in fact he wasn't expecting _anyone_ to come to his house at the moment.

"No, don't be angry Erza," said Gray nervously. "It's just I wasn't expecting visitors today. Why didn't you call me first, that you want to come over? It's a good thing that I wasn't going anywhere today. And hello Mira-san, Mavis-san." Mira and Mavis greeted Gray back with a 'Hello' and smiles.

"Because I didn't have any intention to visit you until Juvia came."

"Juvia?" Gray was confused with the unfamiliar name. Then he saw another woman holding a bouquet of flowers standing behind Erza and Mira. The girl with wavy blue hair looked at him timidly. He recognized the woman. "You're Juvia?"

"Ye-yes." The woman answered softly.

"O-oh…" Gray remembered what he had done to the woman yesterday. He didn't know how to face Juvia at that moment. He turned to look at Erza again. "So, what business do you have with me?"

"We're Juvia's support group. We know what happened between you and her yesterday."

Gray stiffened at the mention of yesterday's events. He knew he had been rude and a jerk towards Juvia yesterday. He averted his eyes. "Ouch..." muttered Gray lowly.

"Well, at first when I heard what happened, Mira and I decided to give you a piece of our minds."

Gray's body shuddered. In their circle of friends, these two women were known as people not to be messed up with, if you value your life and want to live. He had learned that a long time ago, thank you.

Erza kept speaking, "But after I remembered what day was yesterday, I can't fully blame you. Still, you were way too harsh towards Juvia." Gray was quiet and kept his silence. "Knowing you, you must feel very guilty right now. That's why I'm asking you to give Juvia another chance. Just hear her out first. You owe her one. Okay?"

"...Okay."

"We'll wait at Natsu's house."

"Got it."

"Great." Erza turned to Juvia and smiled to encourage her. "Good luck. Just scream if he becomes a jerk like yesterday." Juvia bobbed her head slowly. Then the three florists walked off, leaving Gray and Juvia alone.

Gray really didn't know how to face Juvia. He didn't know the woman, but she had said that she was one of his fans. And she also had said that she wanted to celebrate something with him, whatever that was. First things first, before they could talk, he had to apologize to this Juvia for his actions yesterday. But before Gray could apologize, Juvia had beaten him to it.

"Juvia is very sorry, Gray-sama." Juvia bowed to Gray.

"What?" Why was she apologizing to him? It should be him that says sorry to her, not the other way around! _What the hell?!_ "Why are you apologizing?" And why was this woman talking in third person? The situation was getting weirder and weirder.

Juvia stood tall and looked Gray straight in the eyes. "Juvia knows that Gray-sama wants to apologize regarding yesterday's events. But will Gray-sama listen to Juvia first before he says anything?" implored Juvia.

Gray didn't understand what was on Juvia's mind. Nevertheless he wanted to redeem himself from his previous actions. "I'm all ears. Oh, do you want to come in?"

"No thank you. Here is fine."

"Up to you, then." Gray leaned on his door frame.

Juvia braced herself for the talk. "Juvia doesn't blame Gray-sama for yesterday. It was her mistake that she wasn't aware of Gray-sama's situation… Juvia came to meet Gray-sama yesterday because Juvia wanted to say thank you. It's because Gray-sama had saved Juvia's life once."

Gray lifted his one of his brows. "What do you mean? Yesterday was the first time I met you."

"Yes, Gray-sama never saw Juvia. But Juvia had seen Gray-sama's interview on TV. And what Gray-sama said back then, had saved Juvia. At that time, Juvia was bullied by her teammates and some of them still are. Juvia is a swimmer, even though she only started a year ago. Juvia was in a gang before she decided that she wanted to turn over a new leaf."

"You were in a gang before?" This… this girly looking woman was in a gang before? Gray couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Yes. One thing after another happened that made Juvia decide to quit. She had had enough of that kind of life. Always being used and she was betrayed by her loved one." Juvia shook her head to gather her thoughts. "But that's not the point. Then, after she quit the gang, she decided to try to become a swimmer, because she loves to swim. Juvia didn't know who had spread the information but Juvia's teammates knew that Juvia had been in a gang before. At first they gave Juvia the cold shoulder and didn't want to get to know Juvia at all. Then they got bolder and the bullying started. Even though Juvia could fight back, she wanted her new life to have a fresh start. That's why she just held back all reaction from the treatment she received. But, at one point Juvia almost gave up her second chance at living. She even thought to return to the gang if this was the kind of life she would have, being bullied by her swim team. Besides, Juvia still had some friends in the gang... And then, she saw Gray-sama's interview. Gray-sama said to not give up. Gray-sama also shared that he had a dark past, but he didn't let his past make him think that his present and future will be the same."

Gray remembered the interview Juvia mentioned. It was the interview after he and Ultear won Magnolia's Annual Grand Prix. He also remembered saying the words Juvia had spoken.

"Even though Gray-sama didn't say it directly to Juvia, she felt that Gray-sama's words were meant for Juvia at that time. Since then Juvia tried to look on Juvia's life from a different angle. Juvia won't be bothered anymore even if people know about her past. She will enjoy her life and make her dreams to be a professional swimmer come true. And the one that gave me hope is you, Gray-sama. That's why..." Juvia paused. "That's why, Juvia hopes that Gray-sama will not quit the upcoming tournament because of the recent accident."

Gray's mood darkened when Juvia mentioned about Ultear's, his partner, accident.

"What do you know about my feelings?" spat Gray bitterly. "Didn't you read the recent article that criticizes me, calling me careless and irresponsible, making my partner participate in a dangerous practice like that?" The pose that Gray and Ultear wanted to do was for Gray to lift Ultear up in the air for a few minutes and spin around a few times. But when they did the spin, something unpredictable happened. His left leg cramped and he fell down on the ice. To avoid colliding with Gray, Ultear pushed herself away from Gray and when she landed on the ice, she slid a few meters before hitting her head on the ice rink wall. Gray's leg cramped because his muscles had been strained and it was screaming at him for rest. For the choreo, Gray had calculated and decided to work out, strengthening his leg so when he spun around holding Ultear at the same time, he would not slip. But in the end it hadn't turn out how he calculated.

"Everybody knew that it was an accident. Even Juvia knew that it wasn't intentional. The ones that blamed Gray-sama were people that don't know you personally. Gray-sama's friends and his fans would never think that Gray-sama is guilty. Gray-sama is also a victim in this." said Juvia adamantly. "So please, don't quit the tournament Gray-sama."

"Who are you to tell me what to do?" said Gray, annoyed. "You don't know what I'm feeling when I saw Ultear's body lying, unmoving on the rink, blood pooling under her head. Her mother had saved me from drowning when I was a kid. And now, her daughter had thrown herself away from me so we would collide. Two different women from the same family, mother and daughter, made sacrifices for a nobody like me. How did you think I would feel in that kind of situation, huh?!" Gray let out his pent up frustration at Juvia. He had been trying to suppress his feelings since the accident. But when someone had dared enough to open the lid from that morass of emotions, he couldn't hold the anguish back. "Damnit!" Gray hit the wall of his house hard.

"Is Gray-sama done venting his anger?"Juvia asked solemnly, looking calm and composed; the opposite of Gray. "Juvia is very sorry to hear about Ultear-san's condition. It's true that Juvia doesn't understand Gray-sama's feelings right now. Because no one has ever wanted to make a sacrifice for Juvia's sake. Not even her parents that had abandoned Juvia. Not even her friends in the old gang; they would always take advantage of Juvia whenever they could. Even Juvia's current teammates are bullying her. Of course, she will not understand a feeling like that."

"I-I… I'm sorry." Gray felt like he was the biggest jackass in the world. Hearing about Juvia's past made him see her in the new light. She had survived a horrible situation without anyone to support her. And here she was, standing in front of him, telling him not to give up when her own condition was as shitty as life could offer.

"No. Please don't say you're sorry. Juvia is telling Gray-sama all of this not to make him sympathize with her." Juvia looked straight at Gray, her eyes shining with sincerity. "Gray-sama saved Juvia's life once. To be honest, Juvia even considered to give up her life because the only thing she ever received was pain and unhappiness. But Gray-sama, you have saved Juvia. And this time, Juvia wants to try to give you support. And Juvia thinks, no, Juvia knows that Ultear-san does not want Gray-sama to give up on this. She didn't make that sacrifice for Gray-sama to quit the competition. She wants for Gray-sama to join the competition on her behalf." Gray never thought that was Ultear's intention. He was busy wallowing in his sadness and guilt.

"...Do you think so?" For some reason, he believed the words Juvia spoke. He didn't know Juvia; but he could feel that Juvia was sincere when she said what Ultear had wanted. It's as if Ultear had told Juvia herself and asked her to say the same thing to him.

"Juvia knows so."

"...Okay. I will think about it." Gray felt that some of the burden squeezing his life for the past few days had lifted. Then his eyes looked at the flowers that Juvia was holding. "I assume the flowers are for me, aren't they?"

"Yes they are."

"Those the same ones from yesterday?"

"No, it's a whole new arrangement. The type of flowers is the same as yesterday. Juvia had given the bouquet to someone yesterday, a stranger on her way home. Erza-san, Mira-san and Mavis-san gave Juvia these new flowers when she came to Fairy Heart this afternoon. Gray-sama," Gray looked up from the flowers to Juvia's face. "Please accept the flowers."

Juvia approached Gray and handed the flowers to him. This time Gray took the flowers from Juvia's hands.

"I'm not fond of flowers to be honest. But, thanks for this." He took the card nestled in the arrangement and read the message. A big 'THANK YOU! DON'T GIVE UP! GANBATTE!' was written on the card with many hearts adorning the words. A smile formed on his lips. "You are really one weird woman."

"That's not the first time Juvia heard someone describe her as weird." said Juvia monotonously. Then her voice turned soft. "Gray-sama, Juvia … Juvia only wants to be friends with Gray-sama. She really wants to say thank you for the strength she had received from Gray-sama back then. It makes her who she is right now. And it will be wonderful if she can also return the favor to him. So, please don't give up." The warmth of Juvia's words made the knot inside Gray slowly become untangled.

"It's easy for you to say that," sighed Gray. "The thing is, Ultear is the only partner that I have. Even if I decide not to quit the competition, I have to search for another partner. And it's not as easy as you think to find someone that is suitable and have good reflexes like Ultear."

"Not even in your team?"

"They already have their own partners. And I would rather kill myself than ask Lyon to borrow Chelia to be my partner. He'll never let it rest and will always remind me that it is because of him that I can join the competition," snorted Gray.

"Don't give up yet! The competition is still four months away. And Juvia is certain that Gray-sama can find another partner for the competition. Juvia will help you to find a partner suitable for you!"

Gray didn't say anything. Instead his eyes assessed Juvia up and down. Suddenly Gray grabbed Juvia's wrist and leaned his face closer to her.

"G-Gray… -sama?"

"You told me that you're a swimmer, didn't you?" inquired Gray, "That means you are an athlete. I think you also have a fit body." Gray placed his hands on Juvia's waist and lifted Juvia with ease. "You're not too heavy and not too light either."

"G-GRAY-SAMA!" Juvia was flabbergasted. "Wh-What is Gray-sama doing? Please put Juvia down!"

"Are you afraid of heights?"

"No! Bu-But why does Gray-sama suddenly lift Juvia like this?"

Gray put Juvia down but he didn't release Juvia from his hold. On the contrary, he pulled Juvia's body closer and gripped both of Juvia's arm tightly. He looked straight into Juvia's eyes. "Be my partner."

"W-What?" Juvia blinked, not believing Gray's words.

"You said that you will help me look for a partner for the competition. So, help me. Be my partner. Of course I will test you first and if you pass the test, I want you to be my partner this time."

"But Juvia has never ice skated before. She will be a hindrance to Gray-sama."

"We'll see if you help or hinder by being my partner," said Gray firmly. "What's your answer. Yes or no?"

"...If Gray-sama thinks that Juvia can help him, then Juvia will gladly help him with pleasure."

"Great." Gray smiled with satisfaction. But that smile was too much for Juvia's already frazzled nerves from the close proximity between Gray and her body already.

_'Gray-sama is smiling at Juvia. Gray-sama _IS_ smiling _AT_ Juvia. AT JUVIA! Kami-sama!'_

_Thump! Thump! THUMP!_

Her face was steaming and her heart was beating madly. In the end she couldn't hold it in any longer and fainted in Gray's arms.

"_JUVIIII~~~!_"

"Oi! Juvia! What happen to you? Oi! Get a grip!" Gray was frantically calling Juvia's name and tried to wake her. But she just laid there, unconscious in Gray's arms. "Tch! What a pain..." But in the end he decided to bring Juvia into his house, to wait for her to regain consciousness. When he carried her inside, he stopped at the doorstep before he completely entered his house. He looked at the unconscious Juvia. "You are surely one weird woman. But," Another smile spread on Gray's face. "Thank you for not giving up on me." Then he closed the door of his house, without realizing that there were three pairs of eyes watching the whole ordeal between him and Juvia from the house next door.

"What's so interesting about watching the ice princess' house that the three of you have stayed like that for almost half an hour?" The owner of the house next door to Gray asked the three with confusion lace in his voice.

The owners of the three pairs of eyes (Mavis, Erza, and Mirajane) looked at the man, big smiles spread on their faces.

"Even if I tell you, you won't be able to understand the situation Natsu," answered Erza. "Not now at least."

"Let's go back to the house. We'll wait until Juvia comes out from Gray's house." Mira suggested. "And Natsu, don't you dare bother Gray. Youwill deal with us if you interrupt Gray and Juvia right now." A frightening aura was exuding from Mira.

"Hold on Mira!" Natsu put his hands in front of his body defensively. "Please calm down!"

"Don't frighten him, Mira. Natsu is not that stupid to not understand the situation." said Mavis. "Right, Natsu?"

"I know that ice princess is busy with your friend right now. I won't bother him. Promise!" said Natsu frantically while showing a promise sign to Mira.

Then the four of them went inside Natsu's house to wait for Juvia so they could ask her the details of what happened inside Gray's house.

Starting from gratitude, then growing to admiration and in the end the affection had bloomed into love. The pink, red, and dark red carnations had represented all of Juvia's feelings to Gray. Two of the feelings had been conveyed and received by Gray. And inside her heart, Juvia also wished that the third feeling would also be accepted by Gray. Not far in the future, she hoped.

* * *

**To be continued**

* * *

That's it! What do you think? Like I said in the previous chapter, I got the idea from the side story that focusing on Gray and Juvia. But in the original story, they didn't get the proper ending and just went on like nothing happened in the next day. This is my version of how they got their ending. Hope all of you like it ^^

Which couple the next story will be about? Find out in the next chapter. Jaa~~


	5. IV - Be My Girl-friend (Part 1)

Hi guys! Here's another update :D

This chapter is kind of a filler before the story of the next couple... And it's a kind of an introduction for one of the main couple in this story. But the title is same for both of the chapter... okay, it's a split chapter actually. But I don't make a cliffhanger for the break this time, don't worry.

Just read and I hope you enjoy this chapter also :D

All the editings credit goes to my lovely beta reader **nalu-fever** of course :)

Miyuu

* * *

IV_** \- Be My Girl-friend (Part 1)**_

* * *

"Turned out Juvia was more than capable of being Gray's partner. In the short time they prepared for the competition, they built a solid understanding with each other. Juvia left her swim teammates and joined Gray's team."

Lucy _knew_ who Juvia and Gray were. But who didn't? They were famous! Moreover in almost every ad Lucy had seen on TV, it starred _them_. They were celebrities among their peers. Lucy remembered reading an article about the competition that Erza had mentioned. Even though Gray and Juvia had placed second, many people were awed and mesmerized by their finale. That pose had hospitalized Ultear but made Gray and Juvia household names. They were so in sync it was if they could read each other's minds.

"As for Ultear, when she was discharged from the hospital, she told Gray she wanted to become their manager. That was what she really wanted, to manage the team left by her mother." Again, Lucy remembered reading this in the newspaper. Ultear prefered to concentrate on her team and manager duties. She'd retired on top of her game, as one of the most prominent figure skaters, with many fans voicing their disappointment in her resignation. Later, when it was revealed that Juvia would replace Ultear, many had doubted her skills. But after Juvia performed in the competition, no one dared to doubt Juvia's skills again. And if someone dared enough to bring up Juvia's dark past, her teammates (Gray especially) would back her up (and in some cases the team - Gray and Lyon - had almost resorted to violence... if not for Ultear threatening to send them to the north pole and everybody knew she _would_ totally do it).

Much later, in one of the interviews the couple had done, the host asked Gray about Juvia and he said, "_Juvia is a suitable partner for me. I have to admit she's more in sync with me than when I partnered with Ultear._" Juvia, that sat next to Gray, was happy that her Gray-sama felt like that with her. But his next words made her feel that she was on cloud nine. "_And dare I say that she's the most suitable partner I've ever paired with. I don't want anyone to be my partner except Juvia._" People watching the interview had felt that was when love had started to grow between Gray and Juvia, even though either said parties didn't realize it themselves. Lucy didn't know Gray and Juvia personally, but after listening to their story, she would also root for the two them.

"I see that you have told Lucy about Gray and Juvia's story," said Mavis while entering the meeting room. A guy with salmon hair followed Mavis.

"Yo Erza, Mira!"

"Hello Natsu," greeted Mira.

Erza nodded her head, acknowledging Natsu's greeting. "Done with the talking?" asked Erza directing the question to Mavis and Natsu.

"We have. And if you don't realize it yet, it's closing time." Mavis answered Erza while she took off her apron. Erza looked at the clock on the wall, it was five minutes past six, closing time was 6PM.

"It is," said Erza.

"Well, time sure flies fast," said Mira. "Then, I will close the shop. Please excuse me." Mira exited the meeting room leaving the other three behind. Lucy checked her wristwatch and the watch said it was five past six already indeed. Like Mira said, time had sure gone fast, especially if you were doing something that was to your liking. The stories had been too engrossing, so she'd lost track of how much time had passed since she entered the flower shop.

"And-," Natsu darted his eyes to Lucy. "-who is she?"

"That's Lucy," answered Mavis, "she came to listen to our story."

"Hello, I'm Lucy." Lucy said politely.

Natsu approached Lucy and offered his hand with a toothy grin. "The name's Natsu. Nice to meet you Luigi."

"Nice to meet you too," Lucy shook Natsu's hand and let go. "And my name is Lucy. Not Luigi."

"Yeah. Luigi."

"Lucy."

"Hu-uh. Luigi."

"Lu-cy."

"Why are you repeating your name like that, Luigi?"

'_This guy… Did he do it on purpose?_'

"You're here at Fairy Heart to listen to a story and not buy flowers? You sure are a weird one."

'_The weird one is YOU!_' This Natsu was so rude! Not only did he say her name incorrectly but he also called her weird, in less than a minute! Lucy was considering giving Natsu her famous 'Lucy Kick' but then a hand chopped Natsu's head, hard.

"OUCH!" yelled Natsu. "What the hell Erza?!" Natsu rubbed his head, scowling.

"Her name is Lucy, not Luigi and don't ever call our customers weird," said Erza authoritatively. "Now apologize to her before you get another chop from me."

"YES MA'AM!" Natsu saluted Erza like a soldier, and it made Lucy sweatdrop. After that Natsu turned to Lucy with a solemn face. "Sorry, Lucy."

With the whole ordeal of saluting and the serious face Natsu showed her, Lucy's annoyance was long gone and instead it amused her how fast a person could change. '_Erza is really something. She can make an annoying person become obedient at the drop of a hat._' Lucy chuckled inside.

"It's okay. At least you said my name right." Lucy tried to be amicable. This Natsu was an indirect matchmaker between Levy and Gajeel. And he also knew Gray, the famous figure skater. When she listened to the story, his name was mentioned quite often, so she felt as if she knew this guy already.

"Great!" said Natsu, grinning, already back to his cheerful self. Lucy checked Natsu out silently and she found that, _surprisingly_, the man was... quite attractive. His well tanned skin and sturdy looking body was appealing in her eyes, not to mention his face was her type… Okay, she admitted that he was handsome! _And did her heart beat a little bit faster from his toothy grin just now?_ Lucy tried to compose herself.

'_Get a grip Lucy._'

"Sorry for Natsu, Lucy," Mavis apologized on her brother-in-law's behalf. "He just says whatever's crossing his mind. He didn't mean anything bad at all. He's like that towards everyone. Back when he first met me, he even said that I looked like a grade schooler."

"Ahaha-haha," Lucy laughed uneasily. She _could_ imagine Natsu saying that to Mavis. "It's okay. He said sorry, so case closed."

"Okay then. So, Lucy," Lucy turned to Erza when she called her. "Do you want to listen to more stories?"

"Can I?" Lucy had come to Fairy Heart to interview them. Instead of getting what she had planned, she got another version of doing an interview. The whole ordeal of interviewing someone was to get to know who they were. Yes, Lucy didn't get to directly interview the florists of Fairy Heart -but in a roundabout way, she had gotten her interview by listening to their story! To be honest, this was much more fun than doing the usual activity of asking questions. And Erza asked her if she wanted to hear another story? She wanted to scream, 'YES OF COURSE!' but she opted to be calm and collected to show that she was professional… even though her mind had already started jumping in excitement.

"Come to Fairy Heart again tomorrow. You're welcome if you want to hear another story." Erza gave Lucy a warm smile.

"Of course I'll come!" said Lucy excitedly. Lucy was new in Magnolia and she didn't have many friends to begin with, even old friends in her hometown. Her mother had passed away when she was only five years old. And she was estranged with her father… In short, she was lonely. But since she came to Magnolia, she had become friends with Levy (her neighbor) and now it looked like she'd found more friends. She felt welcome at Fairy Heart.

"We open at 8AM," informed Mavis. "You can come around at that time."

"I don't have anything to do besides go to the office. I'll come to Fairy Heart after I check in at the magazine."

"We'll wait for you then," said Mavis, smiling. "Oh! Didn't you say that you live in the same apartment building as Levy?" Lucy nodded. "Then Natsu can drop you off home in his car. His house is in the same direction as yours."

_Natsu would take her home?_ Again, Lucy felt that her heart beat a little bit faster. She'd thought that Natsu was quite attractive before and now, that attractive guy would take her home?

Thump! THUMP! _THUMP!_

"I think it's not necessary," said Lucy calmly, even though her heart was hammering her ribs. "But thank you for offering."

"Why not?" Natsu cut in. "I don't mind taking you home. I won't do any funny business, Erza would have my head if I dared."

"That's not the problem. I don't want to trouble someone that I barely know. It isn't too late for me to be going home alone." Lucy voiced her reasons.

"But we know each other."

"Barely."

"Same for me."

"Not for me."

"For you."

"Yes."

"Why are you so stubborn?"

"And why are you so persistent on taking me home?"

Both Natsu and Lucy didn't want to back down from whatever the other reason was. Lucy found it strange that she was so insistent on Natsu not taking her home. Her dormant competitive tendency had come out of nowhere.

"Why? Because I want to. You're my friend, my nakama. It's not good for a girl like you to walk home alone."

Natsu's answer made Lucy stunned. "...Friend?"

"Who else would come to flower shop to listen to a story except if that person is Erza or Mira or Mavis-san's friend? And anyone that is their friend is my friend also. Even though we've just met, I don't want anything bad to happen to them. And that includes you, Lucy."

_THUMP!_ **THUMP! **_**THUMP!**_

"I-"

"Enough." Erza cut off whatever Lucy wanted to say.

"Erza-"

"Didn't you hear when I said enough?" Erza's frightening aura was hovering over Natsu and made his will to counter Erza disappear completely.

"Hai," said Natsu cowering. Erza swiftly shifted her focus to Lucy.

"It's just for safety reasons, Lucy. If I could, I would take you home myself but I have something to do today." Erza's cheeks coloured pink after speaking. "I can guarantee that Natsu is a nice guy. And he already knows the consequences if he dares commit any impropriety with you."

"…Okay," said Lucy, resigned. She's not completely upset about Natsu taking her home. It was just… the frantic heartbeat of hers, it's like it was telling her that something would happen if she got too near Natsu. Whatever that might be.

"That's settled then."

"Finish your business here. I'll wait outside the shop. See ya Erza, Mavis-san." Natsu left the meeting room and he passed Mira as she entered the room. "Bye Mira."

"Bye Natsu," Mira remembered something. "Lisanna will come to your place later with Happy."

"Got it!" yelled Natsu while walking outside the shop.

"Then I'll also see you all tomorrow," Lucy also bid her goodbyes. "Thank you for the stories and hospitality. I really enjoyed it."

"Here in Fairy Heart, we will welcome anyone that needs our help, especially if that person is our friend. Journalist or not, you are our friend now," stated Mavis.

_Friends…_ Something that Lucy had longed for such a long time since the incident that happened in her early teens. The incident that made her distant from her estranged father; the incident that was her life's turning point. Hearing the words again said by someone, that she or he wanted to be friends with her… The elated feelings almost made her cry with happiness.

"See you tomorrow!" Lucy beamed her best smile to the florists. Then she walked out of the meeting room to the front of the shop.

"See you later!" Mavis waved to Lucy.

Lucy waved back, leaving her new friends, while bracing herself for the ride of her life… not really.

* * *

"Welcome! Oh, hello Lucy… What's with the long face?" Mira was spraying water at some of the flowers when Lucy opened the door. She was alone inside the shop at the moment. When she saw Lucy's face, she tilted her head and was wondering what could make Lucy so dispirited in the morning. It's barely thirty minutes after she opened the shop after all. "Are you okay?"

"Hi Mira…" said Lucy tiredly. "Hm… Can I have a chamomile tea?" Lucy's head was pounding and why was the sun was so bright that morning?

"Okay. But, please take a seat first here." Mira took Lucy to the counter and made her sit on one of the two chairs. "I'll back right away. And you can tell me why do you seem to be dispirited like this." The white haired florist left Lucy at the counter and walked to the kitchen.

Lucy nursed her pounding head, kneading her temple with her knuckles. Yesterday's incident flashed in her mind and she frowned. Her feelings were right, of not wanting to get too close to Natsu. That man was really bad news! He drove Fireball (his car's name) insanely fast. Then when Lucy thought that at last she could relax in her home, she saw the same man sat on her sofa and already switching her TV channel. "_THIS IS MY ROOM!_"she remembered screaming at Natsu. "_GET OUT!_" which Natsu replied by asking if she had any food to be eaten, spicy food to be exact. Her mind drifted back to yesterday night's events.

* * *

_**Yesterday Night - Lucy's Apartment**_

"You are trespassing on my property!" exclaimed Lucy, annoyed. How did he get into her apartment in the first place by the way? Her room was on the fourth floor! "I can report you to the police you know!" But his answer had almost made her fall from where she stood.

"Police? Ah, I haven't visited Makarov jii-chan and Laxus for two weeks already. They must be wondering why there hasn't been any report of me racing in the neighbourhood." Turned out Natsu was a 'regular visitor' at the police station. Lucy bet that this Makarov and Laxus guy that Natsu mentioned were the policemen. "I was out of town, busy with deliveries and just got back today. Not to mention that Happy was sick and I had to look after him most of the time. Thankfully Lisanna offered to take care of him while I was out of town." Natsu didn't peel his eyes from the TV and let out a big yawn while answering Lucy. "And I'm not trespassing your property. When I asked in the car before, you told me that I can come to your house tonight."

"What?" Lucy swore that she NEVER told anything to Natsu that had indicated he could come to her house! Except… She once screamed 'YES!' to one of Natsu's questions, but she didn't hear his question because she was busy worrying for her life. Natsu's driving was something that she didn't want to experience EVER again. It was like riding a roller coaster at maximum speed.

The blonde woman sighed, massaging her pounding head. "I'm not prepared to have a guest in my house. And I don't have any spicy food. So, could you _please_ leave?" But she found that Natsu was already sleeping on her sofa, hugging her favorite dog plushie, Plue.

"What are you doing?!" yelled Lucy, stomping to the sofa. Natsu didn't budge. Instead he snuggled his head into the pillow more.

"So comfy…" mumbled Natsu in his sleep. Could someone sleep that fast in a span of a minute? Lucy looked at the already snoring Natsu, and she got the answer. The answer was yes. She heaved another sigh.

Then Lucy remembered Natsu told her that he was just got back from out of the town that day. He must be very tired if he could fall asleep on the first thing he lay his head on. She turned off the TV and crouched beside the sofa, peering into Natsu's face. Yes, he was handsome, she had admitted that earlier. She'd only had one guy friend from early in her childhood. In all her life, there was no other man that took an important role in her life, besides her father. '_And him…_'

She would never forget him, the first guy that had saved her from her loneliness. If not because of _that_ incident, he and she could still meet and hang around each other. Her thought was beginning to drift into the past… when suddenly Natsu's arm wrapped around her shoulder. His head got closer to her and snuggled into Lucy's body.

"W-WH-" Lucy couldn't make out her words even though her mind was screaming '_WHAT IS THIS?_ ' already. Before she could shove Natsu, the man mumbled something. She couldn't understand him, and when she hear his words, her face turned red.

"Smells good… so soft…"

'_OH-MY-FREAKING-KAMI-SAMA!_'

Lucy's mind was in a jumble and had stopped working at the moment. She felt that her face was burning and her heart was beating like a car that was racing at maximum speed. Then, Natsu began to move and he placed his head in her bosom and that was the last straw. She shoved the man hard and ran into the bathroom. That night, for the first time, she slept in her bathtub.

* * *

In the morning, when she opened her bathroom door, Natsu had already gone from her room. Lucy found a paper with something scribbled on it, that turned out to be Natsu's message for her (she spent almost half an hour trying to decipher what was written on the paper). He told her that he had to go first because he forgot that Lisanna would visit to bring Happy back to him.

'_He has a pet? Oh, whatever_.'

Lucy didn't want to waste her time thinking about someone that had barged into her life so suddenly. Her stomach grumbled then. She didn't want to see Natsu at all after that... incident. She'd opted to stay in the bathroom until morning. That's right, she had skipped her dinner yesterday. It's no wonder she felt hungry. She decided she would eat a little before went to work… But when she opened her fridge, it was empty. Another paper (Natsu's) was left inside, thanking her for ALL of the food...

In record time Lucy changed her clothes and ran out of her apartment, before her anger got the better of her. She didn't bother to go to her office, heading straight to Fairy Heart. She wasn't in any mood to be working. _'I will call Jason later.'_

Her body was aching everywhere from the weird position of sleeping in her bathtub. What her gut had told her before was right. Natsu WAS indeed BAD news. If she saw him after this, she would definitely give him her famous 'Lucy Kick'! Maybe she would pair the kick with her 'Lucy Punch'...

"Here's the tea." Mira came out from the kitchen with a cup of chamomile tea. Lucy accepted the tea and breathed in the smell, her pounding head subsided a little.

"Thanks Mira," said Lucy gratefully.

"You're welcome." Mira took another seat and sat beside Lucy. She watched Lucy sip the tea little by little. "So, are you ready to tell me what happened to you?"

"Natsu," said Lucy.

"Natsu? What do you mean?" Lucy told Mira what had happened after she left Fairy Heart, leaving out the hugging and snuggling scenes.

"He didn't understand the word 'privacy' - I get it," said Lucy in the end. "But how can he do that to someone that he'd only just met? Did he think he can get away with all his bold and careless actions with that toothy and dashing smile of his?" Lucy huffed in annoyance.

"Well, as far as I know, Natsu would never do something like that to a stranger. But when he considers someone his friend, he doesn't hold back."

"But that's ridiculous! Even if you are friends with each other, there's some boundaries that can't be crossed!"

"Oh? Has Natsu done something to you that crosses this boundary you mentioned?" Lucy almost slapped herself for the slip. "You did say that his smile was dashing, didn't you?"

"I-It's just a figure of speech," Lucy tried to dodge Mira's question. The woman in front of her was really too perceptive for her own good! She had to choose her words more carefully. "Even with a friend, I don't think I can be that bold."

"The thing is, Natsu thinks of his friends, or using his word nakama, as his family. He can be like that with you because he thinks of you already as his family. His own family is no longer alive."

"What…? But, didn't Mavis-san marry Natsu's older brother? Then it means-"

"Oops, my apologies. It's his parents that are no longer alive. His brother isn't dead. Though, he also could be..." Mira let her last words trail away.

"Sorry. What are you saying?"

The florist shook her head. "Sorry, just talking to myself." Lucy knew when something was not meant to be shared and told. She decided to drop the issue. "Anyway, like I said before, Natsu thinks his nakama as his family. And he cares for his family, a lot."

Lucy was having a hard time believing that Natsu could care for someone from the things he had done yesterday at her apartment. "No offense Mira, but I can hardly think of him as caring, based on what he did in my apartment yesterday."

"Well, I can't blame you for that," Mira gave Lucy a troubled smile. "Ahh! How about I tell you a story about him? One time Natsu helped two persons that came to Fairy Heart, confess their feelings."

"Like what he did for Gajeel and Levy-chan?"

"No," Mira shook her head. "This time he was an active participant with helping the confession."

"What did he do?"

"Now you are curious about him, huh?" said Mira playfully.

"Y-You are the one that wants to tell me this story!" said Lucy flabbergasted. Although Lucy had to admit that she was indeed curious about Natsu's story. How could a man as careless as him be an active participant to help someone confess? Wouldn't that spell disaster for the person he helped?

"Alright, alright," chuckled Mira. "Okay. About the story, it happened three years ago…"

* * *

**To be continued**

* * *

Who do you think will be the next couple? Hehehe...

See you on the next chapter. Jaa~~


	6. IV - Be My Girl-friend (Part 2)

Minna-san, ogenki desuka?

Hello all, how do you do? I hope you are doing good :)

Here's the next update and the couple this time is not an official one, but I like to see them together, so yeah even though you don't like the pairing, I hope that you can still enjoy the story :)

May you enjoy the story and thank you for all the reviews! It's really nice to know what do you think and feel about my story XD

All the editing credits goes to my lovely beta-reader, **nalufever** of course ^^

Miyuu

* * *

IV_ \- **Be My Girl-friend (Part 2)**_

* * *

**_Three Years Ago_**

"Should I go in, Carla?"

"Meow."

"Is it okay to give flowers for the present?"

"Meow."

"You think so?"

"Meow."

"But, Carla-"

"Meoooooow!"

"What are you doing, talking with a cat?"

Wendy Marvell, a slender young lady with blue hair down to her waist jumped a bit at the sudden new voice. Two men were standing near her, one with untamed salmon hair and the other one, a bit shorter than the first, had unruly dark purple hair. She recognized the second man.

"Romeo-kun!" exclaimed Wendy.

"Konnichiwa, Wendy-senpai," greeted Romeo.

"Your senpai, Romeo?" asked the salmon haired man. He's the one that asked why Wendy was talking to her cat.

"Yes. She's my senpai from senior high, Natsu-nii," said Romeo. "But we're also neighbours. Hello, Carla."

"Meow." The cat, Carla, was white with a pink ribbon tied at the end of its tail.

Natsu approached Wendy and stared at the small girl intently.

"Y-yes?"

Then without saying anything, he crouched beside her and petted Carla. "Hi there," grinned Natsu. "I also have a cat, named Happy, he's a boy. And I can tell that your cat is a smart one, it's like she understands what you're talking about. Good girl." Natsu petted Carla's head and rubbed her chin. Carla purred happily. "Is that why you're talking to your cat?"

"W-Well…" Wendy was a bit flustered. Natsu was acting like they had known each other for a long time. "It's kind of a habit of mine. Carla was the only friend that I had before I met Chelia."

Natsu stood from his position. "Wendy, isn't it? I'm Natsu."

"Ko-Konnichiwa Natsu-san."

"So, what're you doing, talking alone with your cat in front of Fairy Heart?"

The three of them (four if Carla was included) were standing in front of Fairy Heart. Wendy had already been there for ten minutes before she was interrupted by Natsu and Romeo.

"I-I want to buy flowers," said Wendy shyly. "But, I don't know if it's okay to give Chelia flowers as her birthday present." She'd been contemplating this since a week ago. Grandeeney, her foster mother, had lectured her to not overthink it again. Even Porlyusica, a pharmacist in the pharmacy where Wendy worked as a part-timer cashier, scolded her about troubling herself with the matter . _'If you have made a decision, then be sure about it. You have to take action or the only thing that you can do is speculate about nonsense that I'm certain will not happen. Stop wasting precious time. Get back to work!'_ The pharmacist's words were swirling inside Wendy's mind.

Chelia was her best friend… The best friend that she had just recently made. She was a famous figure skater and a celebrity at her senior high school; everyone there knew Chelia.

She and Grandeeney had moved to Magnolia from Marigold, Grandeeney's hometown. They had moved because there were no good senior highs there that Wendy could attend to continue her studies. One of Grandeeney's old friends, Igneel, said to Wendy's foster mother, attend the school in Magnolia. Marigold wasn't too far from Magnolia and in the end, she agreed to move.

For Wendy to move from her previous school (Cait Shelter) was a difficult choice. Even though she didn't have any close friends there - all of the students were friendly and she liked the school very much. The principal of the school was also a very kind and caring man. But it was a small school and only had classes up to junior high. She would always remember the days she'd spent at her old school. Attending her new one, Magnolia High, she expected that the school would be similar to Cait Shelter; that she could have new friends and be close to them like just like before. But then, in just one day, she lost her hope that her school life would be like her old one. Wendy was a timid girl, not the type that would start a conversation. Most of her classmates were coming from the same school or had known each other long. At the end of her first day, she didn't make any new friends and was left alone.

The situation didn't change until the second semester of her freshman year. Wendy was suddenly approached by three girls when she was eating her lunch by herself on an outdoor bench. The three girls were known to be famous cheerleaders at Magnolia High. They greeted her and asked if they could eat together with her. Wendy was eager to have any friends, that's why she didn't feel it was strange for famous cheerleaders like them to suddenly want to sit with her. In the end she became friends with them. On the day the three asked for her to be friends with them, she cried inside her room. _At last_, her lonely days would be over. She had imagined what she would do if she had a friend; hang out after school, eat lunch together, exchange diaries, and many other things. But…

Even though these new friends of hers were famous, that didn't mean she became popular. No. In fact, she became their lackey, being ordered around to get their things. She never complained or voiced her thoughts about their treatment. She _endured_ all of it. Then came her sophomore year, and along with that, Wendy had also received a new 'treatment' from her friends. All of her classmates were starting to bully her indirectly. Her books were torn, her chair went missing, even her locker was full of garbage. _Again_, she endured it. She didn't tell Grandeeney about any of the things she suffered at school. She didn't want to make her worried. The only one that she talked to about her troubles was her cat, Carla.

Carla was a present given by her old school principal as a farewell gift. Whenever she talked to Carla, the cat always listened and stayed beside her. The white cat was smart and it was as if she understood every word Wendy spoke. She was the only comfort that Wendy had.

A month after her sophomore year started, her cheerleader friends talked about something and from where she listened, they were upset with this 'something'. Magnolia High was one of the most prestigious schools in the district and the students who attended were from many different places. More than a few were celebrities or famous. Chelia Blendy was a celebrity; known to be a promising star in the figure skating world. She was in the same grade as Wendy but had different classes. Wendy's cheerleader friends had the same classes with Chelia. From their conversation, Wendy knew that they were jealous over Chelia's popularity. What Wendy didn't expect was to hear the evil plan of what they wanted to do to Chelia. They planned to push Chelia from the stairs so she couldn't join the upcoming competition.

Even though Wendy didn't know Chelia personally, she still didn't want anything bad happening to her. When she tried to tell her friends to rethink their plan, they glared sharply at her and threatened her to not to tell a soul what she had heard... Or they would tell all the students that it was her plan. Everyone would surely believe her cheerleader friends over a nobody like her. Wendy cowered back to her place and stayed quiet. Later when she was inside her room, she told Carla about what her cheerleader friends planned to do.

"_Carla, what should I do?_" Wendy sat on the floor while hugging her legs. "_Chelia hasn't done anything bad to them. Why should she be a victim of their jealousy? What's more, she won't be able to join the upcoming competition if she's injured. But, I can't do anything about it. They'll frame me if I dare tell anyone about their plan. And it's not like anybody will believe me if I do tell them about this…_"

"_Meow._" The white cat rubbed her head against Wendy's legs. Wendy knew that it was Carla's way to comfort her when she was upset. She picked up the cat and placed her on her lap.

"_Yeah, I know,_" Wendy caressed Carla's fur. "_What they want to do is a really bad thing. What they've done to me has been awful. But what they plan to do to Chelia can be considered a crime. Hurting people is on another level of bullying._"

Wendy continued to caress Carla. Her mind focused on something that her heart had told her since the beginning, from first overhearing the plan. She lifted Carla from her lap and brought the cat up to eye level. Her eyes shone with determination. "_You know what, I'm going to stop them. I won't let them hurt Chelia. I will do what's right, even though I'm afraid of the consequences, but I know that this what I should do. You agree, don't you?_"

"_Meow!_"

"_Thank you Carla!_" Wendy hugged Carla, a small smile on her lips. Without her realizing, another figure also smiled from behind her door. Grandeeney made a note to call the school to inform them of what she had heard, to prevent the accident happening.

On the day the cheerleaders planned to hurt Chelia, Wendy followed them around all day. At first she wanted to tell Chelia about what they wanted to do, but Chelia didn't know who she was and with the reputation that she had (thanks to her classmates), she doubted that Chelia would trust her. She resorted to her last option; to save Chelia before her 'friends' succeeded in pushing her down the stairs. Her cheerleader friends had observed which way Chelia used to pass and which staircase was the most suitable for them to carry out their plan. The cheerleaders waited near the staircase with Wendy also hiding near them. It was the end of the school day already and the building was deserted, only a few students left behind. Based on Chelia's schedule, she would go to the library to volunteer to help the librarian. When she exited the library, the cheerleaders waited until Chelia began to step down the stairs. One of them tiptoed behind her and got ready to push her. That was Wendy's cue to enter.

Wendy shouted Chelia's name to warn her. She came out from her hiding place and ran to Chelia and the cheerleaders. They stepped back when they heard Wendy's voice, not expecting the interference. Chelia looked quite calm even though someone was trying to inflict harm on her. Wendy wanted to pull Chelia and her friends away from the stairs. But, being her clumsy self, Wendy tripped and fell towards the stairs. Chelia was surprised when Wendy lunged past her and tried to catch Wendy but even though her reflexes were good, she wasn't fast enough. With eyes closed, Wendy braced herself for the impact. So much for wanting to do something right! Oh well. At least Chelia was saved and her friends… her ex-friend's plan was a failure.

But, instead of crashing to the hard floor, Wendy felt a pair of arms catch her and she fell on top of a sturdy body. Both Wendy and her saviour fell to the ground and before she could see who had caught her, her world became black, she lost consciousness. Later, when she awoke, Wendy found herself laying on a bed in the nurse's office. The first person that she saw after she opened her eyes was Chelia. Worry was plastered on the girl's face and when she saw Wendy had regained consciousness, a wave of relief replaced the look of concern. Chelia hugged Wendy tight while saying, '_Thank goodness you're alright,_' repeatedly.

Chelia told Wendy what happened after she fainted. Turned out Chelia knew already what her ex-friends had planned to do. The principal was the one who told her. The principal, Igneel, was told by someone (Grandeeney) that there were a group of students that wanted to push her from the stairs. At first Chelia was confused; she didn't have enemies in the school as far as she knew, but she complied in the end. Igneel told her to be cautious and stay alert. That's why Chelia was ready when the incident happened. Igneel wanted to catch the students red-handed, so he would have solid evidence and could give them punishment without making false assumptions.

Chelia had been followed by one of the student council, discreetly. The student was to guard her and also to be a witness if the incident happened. Chelia told Wendy that the one who caught her when she fell was the student council member that was guarding her that day. A boy with dark purple hair stood not to far from Wendy's bed. That's how Wendy and Romeo knew each other. Romeo wasn't officially a student council member, at that time he was under training to be vice-president of the current vice-president. But, he was enough to be a witness, and he was also good at judo. In short, he was a perfect candidate for the job.

Wendy thanked the freshman shyly before her focus returned to Chelia. On that day, she gained two new friends that later would become true friends. Chelia thanked her for the thing she had done to her but she also scolded her for being careless. Wendy was happy even though Chelia scolded her. She could feel that Chelia was sincere and really worried for her. She was surprised when Chelia told her that from then on, she would watch Wendy closely to prevent her doing anything else dangerous. And because she was her friend, Chelia didn't want anything bad happening to her. The tears flowed from her eyes without Wendy realizing it. She sobbed and sobbed for few minutes while Chelia hugged her. When she finished her crying, a very big and sweet smile adorned Wendy's face. Since then she never felt lonely again. At last, her wish to get a new friend was granted.

A year had passed and Wendy was a senior now. She, Chelia and Romeo had become close friends and would often spend time together. They would eat lunch together, study together, and for Wendy and Romeo, they would go to school and back home together. Wendy's house and Romeo's house were on the same block and why they'd never met each other before the incident was a mystery to them. The three were so close and considered each other as best friends. Even though Romeo was a year younger than Chelia and Wendy, it didn't hinder them one iota to be friends.

When Chelia's birthday was around the corner, Wendy planned to give her a present. Chelia once mentioned to her how she would like to receive flowers from the flower shop named Fairy Heart. Juvia, Chelia's teammate in skating, told Chelia the story behind her first meeting with Gray. Chelia had always admired Gray and Juvia as skating figures. She'd never seen any other couple that were so in sync like them; not even between she and Lyon, her partner. Since then she had imagined one day someone would give her flowers from Fairy Heart.

And that's when Wendy decided to give Chelia flowers. Then, another thought crossed her mind.

Would it be okay if she was the one that gave flowers to Chelia? When Chelia told her that she would like to receive flowers, didn't she mean that she wanted _a man_ (probably Lyon) to give them to her?

She pondered and hesitated to enter the flower shop. That's when Natsu and Romeo came.

Romeo stared at Wendy and he knew why the girl was hesitating to buy flowers. "Wendy-senpai, is this about what Chelia-senpai told you? That she would like to receive flowers from Fairy Heart? Are you afraid that Chelia-senpai would not like it if you were the one to give her flowers?"

Wendy averted her eyes, studying the ground and nodded slowly. "You know me, Romeo-kun."

"What are you two talking about?" asked Natsu confused. Before Romeo answered Natsu's question, the door of the shop opened and a petite woman with blonde hair came out.

"Hello there!" greeted the blonde woman cheerfully. The winged hair ornament on each side of her head bobbed up and down following the women's movements. She looked at each of them and when her eyes landed on Natsu, her cheerful demeanour turned calmer. "Natsu. Done with the deliveries?"

"Yo, Mavis-san," said Natsu animatedly. "It's my day off today. I just came back from outside town and decided to rest for today. Anyway, someone wants to buy flowers from Fairy Heart."

"Oh!" Mavis cheerful tone was back in a second. "Is it you Romeo-kun?"

"No, it's not me," said Romeo. "It's my friend here, Wendy Marvell."

Mavis turned to Wendy and offered the girl a warm and kind smile. "Welcome to Fairy Heart, Wendy. What kind of flowers do you want to buy?"

"Uhm… I… I want to…" Wendy stuttered, she couldn't find her words. They were stuck in her throat apparently. She clutched the front of her shirt, and began to twist the fabric, a sign that she was nervous; _very_ nervous.

"Mavis-san, can we get inside the shop first?" said Romeo while he approached Wendy and put his hand on the girl's shoulder. Whenever Wendy was nervous, Romeo always did this to her and it could calm her most of the time. Wendy began to relax and she let go of her shirt.

"Come in then." Mavis opened the shop and ushered the three of them inside, while Carla followed behind. Wendy's eyes caught the vibrant and colorful flowers that were displayed inside the shop. Not to mention the fragrance of the flowers; her smile widened slowly from the scenery of the shop. She felt like she was in a field of flowers! "Follow me." Mavis guided them to the counter and told Wendy and Romeo to sit. Wendy saw two other women emerge from the inner part of the shop -a scarlet haired and a white-silvery haired woman.

"Erza! Mira!" Natsu greeted them respectively.

"Hello Erza-nee, Mira-nee," said Romeo politely. The two women smiled and nodded as greetings before they went to the other part of the shop.

"So, can you tell me what kind of flowers you want to give?" Mavis asked Wendy.

"Ehm... I… I want to give flowers to my friend for her birthday present." Wendy told Mavis the details slowly. Mavis and Natsu listened attentively. "I… I don't know if Chelia will be happy if she gets flowers from me." Wendy ended her story.

"Wendy." Natsu suddenly spoke up.

"H-Hai."

"You are weird."

"Natsu-nii!" Romeo thought that Natsu was being rude to Wendy. But before he could retort back at Natsu, Mavis placed her hand on his shoulder. Romeo glanced at Mavis and saw the blonde shaking her head. Her eyes told him to hold back and see what Natsu would say. Mavis was a sweet woman _yet_ she had an authoritative aura that even Erza didn't dare defy. In the circle of their friends, everybody knew that it was because of Mavis that Fairy Heart was as successful as they were at the moment. She was known to have very good insight and excellent business tactics. Romeo and his father were included in that circle. When Romeo looked at Mavis, he knew that the only thing that he could do now was wait. He turned to look at Natsu and Wendy.

"Excuse me?" Wendy blinked her eyes rapidly.

Natsu approached Wendy and repeated his words. "I said you are weird."

"I… I know that I'm weird," Wendy cast her eyes to the ground. "My classmates like to call me weird. They even bullied me. I thought I deserved such treatment because I wasn't like them. And I know that talking to Carla as if she can understand me is, well, it's weird. Not to mention that at my age, my boobs are not developed as the others have." Mavis looked down to her almost non-existence breasts. "Yes, I am weird and I know that."

"Huh? What the hell are you talking about? How can boob size can determine if someone is weird or not?" Natsu said bluntly. "I don't care about such things. I'm not a pervert like Macao."

"Natsu-nii! My father doesn't have anything to do with this."

"But it's true. The last time I saw him, he gave me a stack of his collection of R-rated movies. Said that I should find a girlfriend fast so that I could practice with my girl."

"NATSU-NII!" Romeo was embarrassed to the point that his face became red like a tomato. He didn't feel proud that his father was some kind of a pervert; yes, he admitted it. Since his mother had died long time ago, that's what his father had become. No, Macao was a good man, but together with his best friend Wakaba, they were known as perverted old men. He didn't want Wendy to hear this kind of information!

"Natsu, get back to the point." Mavis reprimanded Natsu.

"I said that you are weird, but not the weird thing you were describing yourself as. Your classmate is the weird one because they bully someone as timid as you. They need a punch for doing something nasty like that. And I also like to talk to my cat, Happy. Cats are living creatures. It's not weird to talk to something that is living." Wendy wanted to tell Natsu that talking to something that couldn't talk back was considered weird, but she held her tongue. "Why I called you weird is because you are hesitating and afraid that this Chelia won't be happy to receive flowers from you. How could a friend not feel happy if she gets a present from her friend, her best friend? If I am that person, I will feel more than happy to get a present from my nakama. My nakama is my family. Even though it's from Gray, I will be happy to receive it and say thanks to him."

Wendy didn't know who this Gray was, but one of Natsu's words caught her attention. "Family…" Wendy repeated Natsu. Yes, that was the right word to describe her feelings towards Chelia. The skater was like family to her, a sister that she never had; more than a best friend. The relationship that she and Chelia had since they became friends was closer than any best friend could have. Chelia was her family, like Grandeeney was her mother, no matter that they weren't related by blood.

"Be confident, Wendy," Natsu encouraged the young girl and gave his toothy grin. "From what I heard of your story, I bet that Chelia would feel more than happy if you give her flowers for her birthday present. Your feelings are sincere and genuine, aren't they?" Natsu put his hand on Wendy's hair and ruffled it gently. "Be true to yourself."

Wendy could feel the warmth that seeped from Natsu's hand. His hand was like a hand of an older brother. It encouraged you and gave her strength to do whatever she wanted to do. "Hai, Natsu-san."

From his seat, Romeo was awed with Natsu. He didn't know that Natsu could be this... _wise_. He knew about Natsu's track record of being a regular visitor to the police station because of his hobby of racing in the neighbourhood. Natsu was also his sparring partner if he wanted to practice his judo. He always looked up to Natsu and had seen him as his older brother. But today, this other side of Natsu had added to the things that Romeo admired about the delivery man.

"So, Wendy,-" Mavis strode to Wendy and stopped in front of the girl, "-can you tell me what flowers you want to buy?"

"I want to give flowers to my friend for her birthday present," said Wendy confidently. "Please tell me what kind of flower is the best for that kind of gift."

"Good!" Mavis clapped her hands. "You heard the customer, Erza, Mira."

Erza and Mira, the two women that Wendy had seen before, came out from inside the shop. One of them, the one with white-silvery hair held a very beautiful bouquet of white flowers. "Kirei …"

"It's very beautiful, Mira-nee." Romeo's eyes were glued to the bouquet.

"It's July now, July's birth month flower is larkspur. The real flower is poisonous so I use an artificial flower for this bouquet. The white larkspur represents a happy-go-lucky nature, happiness and is also a symbol of purity and innocence. White casablanca lily symbolizes celebration. A perfect combination for a birthday present!" explained Mira. She handed over the bouquet to Wendy. "Erza, the card."

"Here's the card," Erza, the one with scarlet hair, stepped up to Wendy and gave her a decorative blank card with pen. "Write down your message so that your feelings can be conveyed clearly."

When Wendy came out from the flower shop, she was like a new person. She was confident and no longer dispirited. She bowed to the florists and waved to Natsu and Romeo. With Carla following behind, she went to the pre-arranged meeting place she and Chelia had agreed on; a big smile spread on her face.

"Ah~~ What a cute friend you have, Romeo." Mira said teasingly.

"Yeah, she's cute," Romeo said absentmindedly, didn't realize he had voiced his thought out loud. Before the others could further tease the young man, he whipped his head to Natsu and looked at the man intensely.

"Why do you look like I've done something to you?"

"Natsu-nii…" Then suddenly Romeo bowed to Natsu. "Please help me!"

Mira and Mavis could feel something was coming. Erza raised one of her brows while Natsu was surprised with Romeo bowing his body to ask for his help. Still, this was Romeo, his nakama. He would do anything to help his nakama.

"Sure!" Natsu immediately answered Romeo's request. "What sort of help do you need?"

Romeo stood straight and looked to where Wendy was walking. "Well… It's about the girl that just left the shop…"

* * *

**To be continued**

* * *

And... I decided to split this chapter again. I want all of the chapters to have more or less the same word counts. No special reason, it just I like it to be organized like that ^^

So, this story will basically have 10 MAIN CHAPTERS as what I said in my AN on the first chapter. But, I will post the chapter partially if the chapter is too long. And... I'm afraid in the future that's what will happen... I just couldn't stop to make it short and simple and in the end, the story had turned out to be loooonger than what I had intended at first... Ha-ha... BUT, I will guarantee that the story won't dissappoint you ;)

Natsu had helped Wendy, and in the next chapter Romeo would take his turn. What will Natsu do to help Romeo? Stay tune for the next chapter.

See u again. Jaa~~!


	7. IV - Be My Girl-friend (Part 3)

Hello readers!

Here's the conclusion on Wendy and Romeo's story. Thank you all fro being patience and also thank you for the reviews! I hope that you will also enjoy this chapter ^^

All the editing credits goes to my beta-reader **nalufever**, a very kind person that has helped me for making this story really enjoyable to be read!

Without further ado, let's start reading the chapter :D

Miyuu

* * *

IV - _**Be My Girl-friend (Part 3)**_

* * *

Wendy stood under the big Rainbow Sakura tree that was full of luscious green in the midst of summer. She wore her favorite green dress that was sleeveless and had a checkered pattern on the skirt. Together with sling bag and wedges, she was dressed as if she was ready to go on a date. It was a date, _indeed_, because she would be going out with Romeo to the Ryuuzetsu Water Park that day. The boy had asked her yesterday night at her birthday party in her house if she could spend the day with him the day after. Wendy thought that Chelia and Romeo had prepared something for her birthday for just the three of them to do. They couldn't go anywhere on her birthday because Grandeeney had made a dinner feast at their house and asked Wendy to invite Chelia and Romeo to celebrate her birthday together. But then Romeo told her that only the two of them would go to the park. While Chelia was busy playing with Carla, Romeo brought Wendy to the garden and asked her to go on a date with him.

Wendy was surprised by the sudden invitation; darting her eyes anywhere but Romeo. Her mind was blank and her face was blushing like mad. Somebody had asked her to go on a date! _Oh dear Kami-sama…!_

Romeo grabbed Wendy's hands and that brought Wendy's eyes to him. He inched closer to her and under the moonlight in the garden, Wendy realized how manly Romeo was. Yes, he was younger than her but from the two years they had become friends, Romeo had acted as someone that was quite mature for his age. Wendy knew his family's condition was why Romeo was like that. Her gaze was locked on the boy's face.

"_Please go on a date with me tomorrow_," said Romeo firmly. "_I have something that I want to tell you. But before that, I want to spend alone time with just you and I. And I have asked permission to go alone with you from Grandeeney-san and she has agreed._"

_What?!_ When did Romeo ask her foster mother such a thing?

"_And Chelia-senpai has to go practice for the upcoming competition tomorrow with her team_," Wendy then remembered that Chelia did mention this when they ate lunch that afternoon. "_Wendy-senpai, I promise this is the first and maybe the last time I would ask such an outrageous thing. So, please, go with me tomorrow._"

Ever since the incident, Romeo had always helped Wendy (from time to time as needed). He was a kind and polite boy. Wendy was comfortable and felt safe when she was with Romeo. She had never had a close male friend before and although she was wary of Romeo at first, but he proved that he was friend material. Little by little, he became one of her most trusted friends. And now this friend had asked something of her. The first request that Wendy could remember Romeo asking.

"_...Okay._" Wendy uttered her answer in a small voice, and it gave Romeo a giant smile.

And here she was, waiting for Romeo under the big Rainbow Sakura at the designated meeting place. The Ryuuzetsu Water Park opened two months ago and it was nearby. When Romeo asked her if she wanted to be picked up at her house or at another place, she immediately blurted the latter, despite the fact they were neighbours that lived on the same block. Even though Grandeeney had agreed and knew about the plan, it was too embarrassing for a boy to pick her from her house to go on a date. Her already pounding heart wouldn't be able to withstand such tension!

She tied her hair in a ponytail and it swayed in the summer breeze. Wendy remembered Grandeeney's words, that her curfew was 9PM, no later than that. Wendy said that she would remember it and said goodbye to which her foster mother replied with _'Have fun'._ Wendy could also hear Carla meowing, saying her farewells.

"Wendy-senpai."

Wendy saw Romeo approaching her. He wore a teal shirt with faded blue jeans. His sturdy physique made the shirt cling to his well built body. This wasn't the first time Wendy had seen Romeo in casual attire. Together with Chelia, the three of them often spent their time hanging out somewhere to have fun. And sometimes Wendy would ask Romeo to accompany her to buy groceries or if Grandeeney needed her to run errands. So seeing Romeo in casual clothes wasn't a strange thing for Wendy. Yet, this time, she could feel a blush starting to show on her cheeks. How could she just realize that her best friend was… _charming?_

"Sorry for being late," said Romeo when he arrived at Wendy's side.

"N-No!" exclaimed Wendy. "You're on time. I just got here."

"If you say so," Romeo looked at Wendy's outfit. "Thank you for coming and dressing up for this date. You look good."

Wendy's cheeks were officially tomato red after Romeo's comment. "A-Arigatou gozaimasu," said Wendy shyly. "Y-You also look good."

Romeo smiled. "Let's go."

"Hai."

Wendy had never been to the water park. She and Chelia along with Romeo had planned before to go, but their timing had been off for them to go together. There was always something one of them had to do that in the end they postponed their plans. Romeo told Wendy yesterday that he had asked Chelia if they could go to this place alone and the figure skater had agreed. But Chelia demanded that the next time they had time, they MUST go to the water park, the three of them together.

Wendy and Romeo really had fun at the water park. For the first part of their time, they went on many rides and watched the attraction of the day. They ate their lunch in one the cafes (which Romeo insisted on paying for). Later, they walked around the big aquarium inside the park and even rented a boat. The park really had many things to explore and do that they didn't realize time had flown so fast so that the sky had turned red when they sat to rest their feet on one of the benches. They could see the sun was setting.

"I really had fun today!"said Wendy, "The sunset is beautiful. You picked a good spot to rest Romeo-kun."

"I know," Romeo stared at the sun before he turned to look at Wendy. Her attention was focused on the sunset. He took his phone from the jeans pocket and a notification of a new message popped into the display. _Just about time._ Romeo smiled and replied to the message before he closed the app and locked the phone, slipping it into his pocket.

"Texting someone?"

Romeo met Wendy's curious eyes. "Yeah. But it's done. Don't worry." Romeo assured Wendy. After that, Romeo turned solemn. "Wendy-senpai?"

"Yes?"

"I told you that I have something to tell you, didn't I?"

Wendy nodded. Suddenly, she was aware that it was very quiet. She peeked from the corner of her eyes and found there was almost no one near them. How could so many people disappear so fast?! She swore that before she was enjoying the sunset, many people were still walking around. Were they transported to another dimension?

"Looks like the others have gone to the big fountain at the center of the park. I read on the net that there will be an event at the big fountain today. We can see it later if you want."

Okay, that answered Wendy's question. But her nervousness didn't lessen even a bit. Thump! Thump! _Thump!_

"Yo, Romeo! Wendy!"

Wendy didn't expect to hear someone call her name. "Natsu-san?" Wendy's eyes were drawn to the big bouquet of flowers that Natsu brought. "What's the flowers for?"

"The flowers? I'm delivering them for somebody special."

"Here? In the water park?"

"Yes. And here you go, Romeo." Natsu handed Romeo the bouquet. A bouquet of larkspur flowers, the same flower that Wendy had given to Chelia early the month before. But this time the bouquet consisted of white and purple larkspur. She knew what the white larkspur meant, but not the purple. Nonetheless, the bouquet was very pretty.

"I've done my job. The rest is up to you." Natsu patted Romeo's shoulder and winked at Wendy before he left.

"Romeo-kun… Are those flowers for…"

Romeo handed the bouquet to Wendy. "This is for you Wendy-senpai; your birthday present."

"But you gave me a present yesterday?"

Romeo shook his head. "That's from Chelia-senpai. She thought that I forgot about your present yesterday and said that her gift was from both of us. The truth is I didn't forget to bring my present. I intended to give you the present today."

Wendy looked down at the bouquet in her hand. "It's the same flowers that I gave to Chelia."

"Yes, they are," confirmed Romeo.

"I know what the white ones mean." Wendy searched the bouquet for a card that would tell her what Romeo wanted to tell her, but she didn't find any.

"The purple larkspur means first love. That's what I feel for you Wendy-senpai." Wendy almost dropped the bouquet. Good thing she was seated already because she felt that her body went numb. "The message of the bouquet is: I love a pure and kind girl that also happens to be my first love. And that's you, Wendy-senpai."

Wendy didn't dare lift her face from the bouquet. She didn't have the slightest idea what expression she should show to Romeo. Her mind was jumbled.

_'W-W-WH-WHA-WHATT?!'_

"Will you hear what I have to say first?" Wendy nodded slowly, very slowly. Knowing Wendy, Romeo could guess that the girl was feeling frantic and maybe her brain stopped working for a while after his shocking confession. "Before I caught you on the staircase, I knew who you were already. Being an apprentice to the student council, I've heard many rumors that go around the school. I also knew about your situation; the bullying that your classmates and cheerleader friends were doing to you. Actually, being Chelia-senpai's bodyguard wasn't my only job, the president also asked me to look into your situation. The council had decided that the bullying was out of control and they wanted to get hard proof of your mistreatment. I was already looking into your situation before I had to guard Chelia-senpai. When it was you instead of Chelia-senpai that was falling from the staircase, can you imagine how shocked I was? That time, I was there to be a witness and was ready if something happened to Chelia-senpai. I was so grateful to have good reflexes and caught you in the right time!"

Wendy had no idea about this. Later Romeo would tell her that Grandeeney was the one who informed the school about the bullying she had received from her so-called friend. All those times Wendy told Carla about the bullying at school, her foster mother knew about it. Igneel, the principal of Magnolia High, was Grandeeney's old friend after all. Igneel had told the student council to take care of Wendy's problem.

"When we became friends and I got to know you better, I felt something I've never felt towards anyone before," Romeo continued. "And before I knew, that feeling had blossomed into love. Although I never felt this for anyone before, because of my dad's stories about him and mom, I'm sure that it's what everyone calls love."

Romeo lost his mother when he was a kid. Wendy had met Macao when Romeo invited her and Chelia to his house. Romeo once mentioned that his father was a pervert, always chasing everything that wore a skirt with long and beautiful legs. Still, the house was full of Macao and Enno-Romeo's mother-pictures from every stage of their life. Wendy was touched by the story and hoped that she would also find a man that would love her as much as Macao did Enno, but minus the pervert part. And it looks like she didn't have to search too far for such a man - the man's son himself was offering to be her partner.

"I've had these feelings for quite some time. And I was struggling about what to do." Romeo reached over to Wendy's chin and lifted it slowly. Two deep black pools met light brown. "Wendy-senpai, I don't want our relationship to turn awkward. This one-sided feeling of mine... I don't want it to affect our friendship. In fact, I had decided to bury my feelings and try to be content with what we have now. But then, Natsu-nii's words struck me hard."

Wendy stared at Romeo's eyes, it was as if she was being held captive by his deep black eyes. With bated breath, she was listening to all of Romeo's words.

"To be true to yourself." Wendy remembered the exact words Natsu had told her before. "That I have to be confident about my feelings."

Romeo's mind drifted to the time he'd told Natsu the things that he wanted the delivery man to help with.

* * *

"Why are you saying this to me? It's Wendy that needs to hear about your feelings, not me." Natsu said after he listened to Romeo's story. "And if you want love advice, you came to the wrong person. It's not my thing. You'd better ask Macao. He would surely have many things to tell you about this."

"Didn't you hear me, Natsu-nii?" said Romeo, exasperated. "I told you about this, not to ask you for advice. I just want to ask you whether I should tell Wendy-senpai or not. You said to her to be true to oneself before… And those words also struck my core. I had decided to not tell her that I like her and to be content, just being her friend. But, I know that I am lying to myself by doing that."

"Hmmmmmm…" Natsu folded his hands on his chest, deep in thought. "This is so troublesome…" Then he scratched his head, "HAAAH! As I said, this is not my thing!" and heaved a big sigh. "If it's me, nakama is nakama. But if someday I like my nakama, I will never lie to her. Our bond is not shallow enough to break just because we have more feelings for that person."

"Liking someone is more than that, Natsu-nii. You want to always be together with her, to see her always happy, to do anything to help her, to do more for her."

"That's what I feel for my nakama. I will always help my nakama, anytime, anywhere."

"But that's not the same-"

"Okay, okay!" Natsu cut short Romeo's reply before the boy could speak more about things that he didn't understand. "Then, listen to this. From what I saw and heard of Wendy's story about herself at that time, I can say that she's a nice girl. Even if you tell her your feelings, yours and her friendship won't change. Hear me first," Romeo wanted to say something but Natsu stopped him. "Don't think too much. You and she have the same tendency to overthink so that in the end, rather than solve the problem, you're getting confused and not solving anything. I will say the same thing to you again; be true to yourself."

"..."

"If you never tell her your feelings, the 'what if' will always haunt you later. I can tell you this because that happened to me before."

"..."

"And it's not good for you and Wendy's friendship to keep something hidden. Something like this is not meant to be hidden."

"..."

"Just think about what I've told you and if you have decided what do you want to do, I will gladly to help you with anything. Got it?"

"...Hai."

* * *

And then Romeo decided to be honest with Wendy, to tell her about his feelings. He also asked the Fairy Heart florists to make him a bouquet for his confession. Romeo asked Natsu to deliver the bouquet to the park. The message that he received on his phone before, was Natsu telling him that he was already near the entrance of the park. Romeo texted Natsu to enter and his exact whereabouts.

"The bouquet and my feelings are my present for your birthday this year. And I hope that you like it, both of them." Romeo caressed Wendy's cheek with his thumb a bit before he retracted his hand. "That's all I want to say."

Silence ensued between the two as they stared at each other.

"Do you want me to answer your confession, Romeo-kun?"

"...I do want to know your feelings, Wendy-senpai. But, I know that it's too sudden. I don't want to rush you. It's never good if you rush this kind of thing."

"...Honestly, I don't know what I should tell you now. I enjoy and treasure our friendship very much. I like you but not in the way you like me…"

"I know. That's why I was hesitating for a long time whether I should confess to you or not about my feelings."

"But… Now I _do_ know your feelings. Chelia and my mother once told me about same thing, I don't notice things, not until I am told point blank about that thing. I wouldn't have any clue about your feelings if not for your confession… To be honest, I'm still processing your confession." It was the first time for Wendy to be confessed to after all. Inside her mind if she didn't faint, it could be considered a good thing. "Though, I can tell you... I didn't dislike your confession. I don't know if that answer is good enough for you or not. That's the answer that I can give to you for now."

"That's…. That's enough." Romeo reached for Wendy's hand and brought to his lips. "Thank you, Wendy-senpai, no, Wendy-chan." Then he kissed Wendy's knuckle softly. He decided to not call Wendy an upperclassman anymore, because he wanted Wendy to become more than that.

Wendy's blush was coming back, redder than before.

"You-You're welcome, Romeo-kun." said Wendy shyly, trying not to stutter but failing in the end.

"Do you want to see the attraction at the big fountain? I think it may have started, but if we run, we can still watch most of it."

"...Why not?"

"Let's go then." Romeo pulled Wendy's hand that he hadn't released and they ran to the big fountain.

Wendy was startled. "W-Wait Romeo-kun!" Wendy screamed, holding a big bouquet with one hand while running was not an easy feat. After she managed to look at the front, she looked at her hand locked in Romeo's hold. Suddenly she pulled Romeo quite hard, and that made the boy stumble and almost fall.

"Wh-Whoa! Wendy-chan! What are you d-"

Wendy kissed Romeo's cheeks. His eyes widened twice their normal size. He turned to Wendy, stunned with her bold move. "Wendy-chan…"

"I haven't said thanks for the flowers. And… I like both of the presents. Thank you."

The biggest smile adorned Romeo's face before they continued to run again to the big fountain, side by side. They were running in sync without noticing the commotion that was happening not to far behind them.

"Why are you running so slow? Hurry up!"

"They will leave us if you are this slow, Natsu."

"Why are you three wanting to follow Wendy and Romeo? Just leave them alone! Don't drag me into your scheme! And what's the camera for, Mira?"

"I have learned from Levy and Juvia's events. That's why I have prepared this camera - to film their cute moment!"

"O-ohhh…"

"What's with that expression, Natsu?"

"Nope! Nothing you have to mind Erza! Mavis-san, please help me!"

"I won't help you if you run that slow~~!"

"AGHH! I hate this!" Natsu screamed his frustration while running behind the snickering Mira, Erza and Mavis.

Two girls and one boy - from friendship to love. While the girls were becoming close friends, the boy wanted to change the relationship that he had with one of the girls to become more than just friendship. Whether it was to say thank you or to confess a love feeling, Wendy and Romeo had given their best efforts to convey their own feelings with the help of the birth flower of July. While one had been accepted, one was still in progress. But maybe, something would bloom next summer. In the midst of the summer warmth, anything was possible.

* * *

**To be continued**

* * *

Soooo... what do you think? I know that Wendy and Romeo is not a canon couple, and I don't know but somehow when I read the Manga, it was hinted that the one that will be paired with Romeo is Asuka. And Mest is somehow, _kinda_, attracted to Wendy. Well... for Romeo and Asuka pairing is still possible and I can accept that (but not into it), but Mest and Wendy's pairing is a NO for me. Besides, I have ship Wendy with Romeo, whether it is true or not. And personally, I like the story that I made for them! They are really kawaii! XD

Then again, that's my opinion only :)

Thank you all for reading the chapter and stay tuned for the next chapter! Can you guess which couple gonna be next? ;)

Jaa~~

PS: _This is just my rambling, but... Have you read the new chapter of Fairy Tail 100 Years Quest: Fairy Nail? You MUST read it if you haven't. My stomach was hurting so much when I read the chapter, especially my fangirling shipping for Natsu and Lucy. KYAAAA~~!_


	8. V - Flowers for My Man (Part 1)

Hello readers! Here's the next update ^^

I won't say much. May you enjoy this chapter :)

Miyuu

* * *

V - _**Flowers for My Man (Part 1)**_

* * *

"Romeo told me what Natsu said, that if it weren't for Natsu, he wouldn't have gotten the courage and confidence to confess to Wendy." Mira concluded the story. "To be honest, my opinion about Natsu has changed since then. The Natsu that I knew was someone with an almost reckless and carefree attitude. For him to give Romeo such advice was also a surprise for me. Natsu is a close friend of my younger sister, Lisanna; I've known him long enough and know his character quite well. I knew him as someone that was problem-prone. You would not believe how many times he has gone to the police station for the trouble he caused."

"Like what sort of things?"

"Mostly racing in the neighbourhood. Fighting with Gray, or Gajeel, even Elfman sometimes. Though it was only a brawl between members in our gang, they'd destroy property just because they were so into the fight. Makarov-san took them to the station and put them in a holding cell until their heads cooled."

"What's the name of your gang? Who are the other members?"

"We call ourselves Fairy Tail and we have many members. Me, Erza and Natsu belong. All the couples that you heard stories about are also members. And by the way, Mavis-san is our unofficial leader."

"Mavis-san?" Lucy raised one of her brows. "How can that be?"

"Because she's the founder. Mavis-san saved many people by establishing the gang. My younger siblings and I were some of the first people saved by her." Mira gave a melancholic smile. "When Natsu referred to his nakama, he was talking about Fairy Tail. He thinks that all of Fairy Tail's members are his family. But all the members in Fairy Tail think the same way, that we are indeed one family."

Lucy listened to Mira speak about her gang, an inexplicable feeling crawled into her chest. Again, one word had stirred her heart greatly. '_Family…'_ She had longed for companionship for such a long time. She didn't have close friends, not to mention her only relative was her estranged father. Everything she wanted was in one spot…here. And Mira, Erza, Mavis-san… Natsu also were also included in that gang… It was _understandable_ if she wanted to be included... _Right_?

"And Natsu, he's someone that really cares for Fairy Tail's members. He's a nice guy and his kind heart is one of his charms. He's someone that you can rely on whenever you need help. Especially if you're his nakama." Lucy processed all of Mira's words about Natsu. She still found it hard to believe that the Natsu that Mira was praising was the same Natsu that had annoyed her to no end yesterday night and this morning. Then again, she'd just met the guy yesterday. She shouldn't assume and judge Natsu based on such a short acquaintance. She wasn't that petty.

"OH! I have some pictures of the couples we've talked about! Do you want to see them?"

"... Huh?" Lucy was too engrossed with her thoughts (especially about Natsu) that she didn't realize when Mira changed gears and asked her a question. "Oh, hmm, can I?"

"_**O-f**_-_**c-o-u-r-s-e**_!" said Mira in a sing-song voice. Lucy swore she could see a devil's tail waving behind Mira's back. This was the first time Lucy saw Mira's devilish side. "Here, you can see the photos to your heart's content!"

Out of nowhere Mira took out a BIG photo album, thrusting it at Lucy. And, boy, the album was _heavy_! She almost toppled from her seat from its weight. How could Mira carry the album like it was nothing, while in fact it weighed a ton? The collection of photos was more like the size of a dictionary than any album that Lucy knew. "H-Hai…"

"There's still more if you've done with this one." Lucy almost dropped the album when she heard Mira's words. So hardcore and devoted to romance! Were Erza and Mavis also this… _hyper_?

"I guess I will look through it the next time, he-he…" Lucy gave Mira a troubled smile before she opened the book and saw what was in the dictionary, _err_, album.

Mira explained to Lucy what each photo was about. Many of the photos were taken without the object of the photo knowing that their picture was being taken (or as Mira said, it was a 'candid' photo). Lucy could imagine the story behind each photo. Most of the pictures were Fairy Heart's customers as they gifted the flowers that they'd bought from Fairy Heart. Lucy was awed with the sheer number of photos. She was curious and wanted to ask Mira how they'd gathered so many photos of their customers at the exact time of their important moment. It was at the tip of her tongue to ask the florist. "Mi-"

"It's a secret."

"What…?" Lucy blinked her eyes, taken aback by Mira's fast answer.

"I know you're curious," said Mira sweetly.

_Too sweet_, Lucy thought inwardly.

"Let's just say, I have my _ways_."

"O-Okay. I get it." Yet another she-devil aspect of Mira's persona. Lucy continued to look at the photos. "Are there any pictures of Fairy Tail members in here?"

"No, I have another album for the gang."

Another thick one Lucy bet.

"But if the members ever bought a flower from Fairy Heart, I would take their photo and put in this album. Excuse me," Mira turned pages until she found the one that she wanted. "Here. This section is for Fairy Tail members. Not all of the members but most of the gang has come to buy flowers."

Lucy looked at the album again. She saw many faces of Fairy Tail members that she didn't know. '_So this is Fairy Tail.'_ Her fingers traced the photos and a small smile grew unconsciously.

"Do you want to come to our meeting place?"

Lucy darted her eyes from the photo to look at Mira. "Yes?"

"I know we just met yesterday, not to mention with the whole ordeal of you being a journalist and we almost kicked you from the shop. That aside, you're our friend now. I'd love to introduce you to the other members. They'll be delighted to meet another new friend," explained Mira. "What do you think?"

Lucy had to restrain herself from jumping up and hugging the florist. Kami-sama had heard her prayers. A very big smile adorned her face and she said, "I'd love to!"

"Great!" said Mira happily. "I'll call you when we decide when the next gathering will be."

Lucy couldn't wait! She continued looking through the photo album when one photo in particular caught her attention. "Mira."

"Hmm?"

"You mentioned before that you have younger siblings, yes?"

"Yeah, I have one younger brother and one younger sister," answered Mira. "My brother's name is Elfman. My sister is Lisanna, she's a veterinarian, she's Natsu childhood friend. Elfman is a police officer."

"Is this your brother?" Lucy pointed to one of the photos in the album showing a bulky-muscled man with spiky white-silvery hair that was the same as Mira's and a bespectacled woman with long brown wavy hair. "His hair colour matches yours and he the other big clue is his police uniform."

"Oh, yes. That's Elfman," confirmed Mira.

"Who is the woman beside him?"

"Evergreen. She's also a member of Fairy Tail."

"And?"

"And she is his girlfriend…" Mira stopped her sentence, her eyes glued to Elfman and Evergreen's photo. She looked intently into the photo without blinking.

Lucy waved her hand in front of Mira's face. "Mira? Mira?"

Mira stayed quiet, still looking at the photo. Then something unexpected happened. The florist burst into tears. "HUAAA!"

"Mira?! What happened?!" Lucy panicked at Mira's sudden outburst.

"HUAAA!" wailed Mira comically. "HUAAA!"

"What happened?" Mavis asked and Lucy whipped her head to see Mavis and Erza coming out from the inner part of the shop. They hurried to Lucy and Mira. "Lucy, why is Mira crying?"

"I-I don't know!" shouted Lucy, flabbergasted. "We were fine before, then suddenly she's in tears. I really don't have any idea what made her cry."

"What did you do?" asked Erza.

"We looked at a photo album. Then I asked her about one photo of her brother and some woman." Erza's eyes landed on the photo album, gazing at the mentioned photo. "She told me about their relationship when suddenly she stopped talking and stared at the photo for a long time. Then she started crying out of nowhere."

"HUAAAA!" wailed Mira, still in a comical way.

"Mira…" Erza addressed her friend with an exasperated tone. "Don't tell me you were imagining Elfman and Evergreen's baby, _again_."

"BU-BUT!" Mira said in the midst of her crying. "The poor baby-"

"No buts!" said Erza sternly. "It was kinda cute of you to wail in the beginning when you imagined how their kid would look like if they have one. But you become like this _every time_ someone speaks about this topic. Cut it out already." Erza shook her head. "It's only in your imagination you know."

"...I know," Mira's cries began to subside. "It's just... I can't help it. My imagination will always get stuck on what I've imagined, not until they actually have their own kid…"

"I can assure you that if someday Evergreen and Elfman have a kid, it **won't** be like what you've imagined. Get a grip on yourself," said Erza firmly, placing her hand on Mira's shoulder. "I will do something if their kid turns out like the one from your imagination."

Mira wiped her tears as a little smile tugged her lips. "Nonsense." Her cries had stopped completely. Mira turned to Lucy. "Sorry, Lucy, for the sudden outburst."

"It's okay," said Lucy. "No problem. Are you feeling okay already?"

"Yes, thank you." Mavis offered Mira a tissue which Mira gladly took. "Thanks for the tissue Mavis-san."

"You're welcome."

"I'll be back," excused Mira herself from the other three. She slowly stood and went to the inner part of the shop.

"What happened to Mira?" asked Lucy still confused with the situation. "Is she really okay?"

"Don't mind her," said Erza. "She's been like that ever since Elfman and Evergreen officially became a couple."

"Does she object to the relationship?"

"Oh, no, no," said Mavis denying Lucy's assumption. "She doesn't have any objection over that! She supports the couple and she's the one that encouraged them to be together." Mavis took over Mira's seat and sat near Lucy.

"O-kay…" Somehow Lucy couldn't believe Mavis' words based on Mira's reactions.

"I see you still have doubts about this," said Mavis while observing Lucy's face. "Well, Mira's reaction was not helping either."

_Did Mavis read her mind? Or was her face that easy to read? _

"No, I'm not a mind reader," Mavis answered Lucy's thought. "But your face _is_ easy to read."

"And also for me," added Erza. "Your facial expressions are very expressive. And that was a compliment."

"Uh, thanks?"

"No problem."

"Anyway," Mavis interjected, "I will tell you Elfman and Evergreen's story. And you will know that Mira is really okay and supportive about their relationship."

"Oh," Lucy's romance radar detected another love story. "I'm all ears."

"This is a story about how 'manly' a woman can be," said Mavis, using air quotes as she spoke the word manly. "It happened in the autumn, two years ago…"

* * *

_**Two Years Ago**_

A police car stopped in front of Fairy Heart. From the driver's seat stepped a woman wearing a police officer's uniform and green stilettos. Her long wavy brown hair cascaded down to the small of her back. The police woman stared for a grim minute at the flower shop before she closed the car door and walked to Fairy Heart's entrance. Behind her glasses, her eyes burned with determination. She had decided to show that 'man' freak how _manly_ she could be.

Yes, all because of that damn officer. He'd made her, Evergreen - the queen of police - feel an emotion, that, for the first time, had made her life a disaster zone (in her opinion).

Evergreen was one of the best police officers in all of Magnolia. She had her own team called Raijinshuu. Wherever she and her team went, they left a lasting impact of how strong and fast they dealt with problems. They were as strong and fast as thunder, exactly what their team's name referred to-Thunder God Tribe. Their elite force was something to be reckoned with; respected, and _every_ officer in the police station looked up to them. It could be said that among their peers, they were celebrities. Many of the officers admired Evergreen for being in the Raijinshuu _and _for her voluptuous body. Not to mention that she was the _only_ woman in Magnolia's Police force and nicknamed the queen of police. She'd been given permission to wear stilettos and that only made her look more regal. She'd made herself clear the first time after being warned to wear official footwear, that either she was allowed to wear stilettos or she would demonstrate exactly how dangerous this type of footwear could become in her capable hands. Her skills interrogating were second to none, the primary reason she was assigned to the elite team. In short, she was someone that always was in the spotlight.

Then one day, Makarov, the chief of the police, asked her to do something unexpected; supervise new officers. Two of her teammates, Bickslow and Freed, were also getting new assignments. Bickslow would be an instructor for the training grounds and Freed would be the new head of their Cyber Crime Department. The new jobs given to Bickslow and Freed were matched to their expertise. Her? Not so much. Give her someone to be interrogated and she would _squish_ all information from them until nothing was left. She'd never seen herself as someone that was good at looking after other people, much less people that were strangers. Then again, she'd _never_ trained _anyone_. So why did the chief assign her this job? It was beyond her imagination. What would she train these people to do? Her interrogating method was something that she-a _woman_, could only do and all of the new officers were, _well_, **men**.

When she checked the names of the new officers on the list, it turned out they were all from the gang that she and the Raijinshuu had joined, Fairy Tail. Chief Makarov was also a member of Fairy Tail… _Okay_, she would give it a chance, they weren't total strangers after all. She traced her finger on the list; Mest Gryder, Alzack Connell... Warren Rocko... Max Alors… then she stumbled on his name.

Elfman Strauss.

She blinked her eyes and rubbed them several times to see if she'd read the name wrong. But, no, the name didn't change.

What was Elfman doing; joining the police station, the same place _she_ worked? Evergreen bet that Elfman hadn't forgiven _him_ for what he'd done to _her_. '_He' _was someone that her Raijinshuu teammate worked for; someone that they respected greatly, no matter what he had done. And _she_ was Elfman's elder sister, someone that he loved dearly.

The incident that took place three years prior had changed his sister into an entirely new person. Some in the gang said that his sister had become a better person, but that was only on the surface. For anyone that knew his sister before, they could see that it was just a facade to cover the truth of his sister's feelings. And for that, Elfman blamed _him_. Evergreen didn't know Elfman personally. They were acquaintances that happened to be in the same gang. But, she worked for the man that he didn't like; the same man that her teammate respected, and the man the she herself admired. For that reason alone, she had indirectly disliked Elfman. And now, she and he would work together in the same place. _Wasn't that some kind of terrible joke?_

She wanted to barge into Makarov's office and demand a new assignment. Freed reminded her that Master (every officer called Makarov Master) would never give an unreasonable order or assignment. She complied... at least _tried_ to, in the end. Turned out her orders meant she would only supervise the new officers _until_ they were assigned their new posts, and was not something that she had to do continuously. Makarov told her that her interrogation skills would be key in discovering the most suitable jobs for the new officers.

When Evergreen met Elfman on the first day the new officers started work, surprisingly the man was docile. She had speculated that Elfman would do something brash and rude to her because of her connection to _him_, but he didn't. In fact, he was polite and obeyed every order she issued. Before, she'd never paid Elfman any attention at any of their gang meetings. They had their own circle and they would mingle only with them. As far back as she could remember, they'd never interacted directly with each other. The problem between Elfman's sister and the man Evergreen respected had also given them a barrier, possibly insurmountable, a wall keeping them apart. But…

The short amount of time Evergreen supervised Elfman, something had happened - making her thoughts and feelings change.

One day, she was doing her job as interrogator and took Elfman with her. The new officers had each taken turns to follow and observe when she did her job. They also had gone and observed other departments. It was Elfman's turn to go with Evergreen now. The man that she had to interrogate was Phantom Lord's boss, Jose Porla. Raijinshuu had investigated Phantom Lord's shady activity for a while and at last were in possession of hard evidence to get a warrant and arrest Jose. This should be an easy job for Evergreen, a piece of cake. She had interrogated other criminals that were more vicious and cunning than Jose. But, the day she was set to interrogate was _the day_ her monthly best friend visited her.

It was known in the station that whenever Evergreen got her period, no one should bother her with literally _anything_, especially on the first three days. Her look was murderous enough to make a person turn into stone. She knew that behind her back, everybody called her _Medusa_ if she was on her period. Nobody knew that Evergreen didn't want to be bothered at those times because she would be very moody and weak. Not even her closest comrades, the members of Raijinshuu knew about this. She didn't want them to see her as a weak and fragile woman. Being a woman was disadvantage enough in her job. She didn't want anyone to know of her weak side. Usually, she would just come to the station and lock herself inside her office.

On the day of the interrogation, she woke up with cramps in her lower stomach and knew that her period had come early. When she remembered that she had to interrogate Jose, she cursed loudly. She was tempted to cancel the interrogation and schedule for another day, before she also remembered that it was Elfman's turn to go with her, not to mention that it was his last activity before he was assigned to his new post next week.

If it had happened before she'd had the chance to supervise the bulky man and get to know him a bit, she wouldn't have given a damn and let him do some other thing. Now, she didn't want to waste any chance to be with Elfman. She was curious about the bulky-muscled man-that always liked to shout anything about being manly. The curiosity that made her observe Elfman in the first place had made her better understand who Elfman Strauss was. And among the new officers under her supervision, he was the one with the best compatibility to work with her.

With great effort she came to the station and prepared for the interrogation. When the other officers saw her, they knew that it was 'the time'. Immediately they made themselves scarce and left Evergreen alone. Evergreen didn't bother to greet any of the others and went straight to the interrogation room. Elfman had already been informed to meet her there. Her head was spinning and her lower stomach was cramping, what a _good_ way to start her day.

When they met outside the interrogation room, Elfman knew something was off with Evergreen. He like every other person in Magnolia's police force had heard about the rumour, of her being Medusa when she had her period. And her glare when their eyes met told him the rumour was _true_. Living with two sisters made him aware and enlightened for this kind of situation. He didn't say or ask anything about why she gave him a death glare and followed her inside the room, then began the interrogation.

In short the interrogation was done quite smoothly, thanks to Evergreen's stone-faced glare. Jose almost pissed himself during the interrogation. So much for being a boss of one of the most vicious and notorious gangs. Evergreen didn't need to use even half her skill to get the details they were after. But the sleazyass had dragged out his answers and made the interrogation take twice the time it should have. Elfman had to restrain Evergreen several times from choking Jose to death.

After the interrogation Evergreen walked back to her office with heavy steps, on the verge of fainting. Almost at her office, suddenly all that she could see was black - and before she could even open the door, she lost consciousness. She found herself in the doctor's office inside the police station when she regained consciousness later. The doctor told her that she'd fainted and someone had carried her there and to take it easy; suggesting she go home and come back to work tomorrow. That was the first time Evergreen fainted getting her period. She'd somehow managed to avoid strenuous work on her period all this time. Interrogating Jose had taken a toll on her already weakened state. She decided to go home early and rest. She couldn't do anything with her head and her body felt so heavy. Before she went left for the day she asked the doctor who had carried her, their answer stunned her.

Elfman. That bullish and loud man had carried her to the doctor's office. The interrogation concluded at lunch time and everyone had been gone for their meal. No one was there when Evergreen fainted. If it wasn't for Elfman, she might not have been found for hours. She thought that after they left the interrogation room he went to have lunch. Looks like the man had followed her and found her unconscious.

When she got home and thought all the things she and he had done together, her heartbeat pounded in her chest. It wasn't long before she realized that she was attracted to Elfman. She denied the feelings with all her might. She felt that she kind of cheated on _him_ if she got closer to Elfman. She sighed and thought how it was better if she distanced herself from Elfman. Good thing he would be assigned to his new post next week. Her little crush would end here and now. But fate had different plans. On the day the new officers got assigned to their new posts, Makarov called Evergreen and informed her Elfman would become her assistant.

"_What?_"

"Y_ou heard me._"

"_But Master! I don't need an assistant! I've done my job all this time alone and never needed an assistant._" The thought of Elfman becoming her assistant was ridiculous… yet her heart leaped considering working together again. "_Why make him my assistant?_"

"_Because Elfman asked me personally to be allowed to work under your supervision_," answered Makarov. "_He told me that he still wants to learn from you and he thinks working near you, he can learn to be an excellent interrogator. And from what I read in your report, he and you have good compatibility._"

"_Master… he's __**her**_ _brother. There's no way we can work together._" Evergreen still tried to reason with her chief. "_I know that he still blames __**him**_ _for what happened to Mira._"

"_I asked him_," said Makarov. "_And he told me the one thing has nothing to do with the other. He won't mix his personal and private life into his career. He knows that you have excellent skills as a police officer, even though you're a woman. I ask you to be professional and not to overthink this too much. I believe that you can guide Elfman to become an elite officer like yourself, Evergreen._"

"_...I understand._"

Honestly, Evergreen didn't understand what Elfman wanted with her. He told Makarov that he wanted to learn from her. But her way of doing interrogation was something that only a WOMAN could do. She had showed the new officers the way she interrogated someone. She thought that by showing the real thing and pointing what they had to pay attention to was the best way to train the officers. Not that she'd wanted them to copy what she had done though.

So… what were his intentions? While her mind was swirling with why-and why-and why, her heart was happy and couldn't wait for them to work together again.

Aside from the Raijinshuu, Evergreen never partnered with anyone else. In Raijinshuu, they worked by themselves within the realm of their expertise when they were on a case. What should she do with this assistant of hers? She didn't know what to expect from Elfman… But neither did she think that things would escalate to be like _this_...

* * *

**To be continued**

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Jaa~~


	9. V - Flowers for My Man (Part 2)

I want to say thank you for all the reviews and for reading my story.

This chapter is full of conversation and kind of prologue for the next couple. We will get more action in the next chapter (and also the conclusion for Ever and Elfman's story). May you also enjoy this chapter :)

And of course all the editing credits goes to my beta reader **nalufever**!

Miyuu

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V - **_Flowers for My Man (Part 2)_**

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Evergreen pushed Fairy Heart's door open and entered the shop. Greeted by colorful flowers and various fragrance, she looked around for a certain silvery-white haired florist.

"Evergreen?" A voice from her right called her name. She turned to see the person that she was looking for.

"Mirajane."

Mira sauntered to Evergreen, a smile on her face. "Hello. What kind of help can I offer you?"

"I want to buy some flowers, but before that, I want talk to you about something," said Evergreen firmly. "Can we talk in private?"

Mira had a hunch what Evergreen wanted to talk about. "We can talk at the back. Follow me."

They went into the inner part of the shop. Inside the meeting room Evergreen saw Mavis and Erza (they were in the same gang also) sitting around a table. "Erza, Mavis-san, can you leave the two of us alone?"

Erza and Mavis could sense the vibe between Evergreen and Mira. The two got up from their seats without needing to be asked twice.

"We'll be at the front," said Erza while sending Mira a sign with her eyes that if she needed any help she knew where to find her. Mira nodded, understanding Erza perfectly.

"Evergreen," Mavis called the police woman, "do your best!"

Evergreen had told Mavis about her problem before. She didn't have any close female friends. None. And she didn't want to talk about this to her teammates; all of them were men and what she wanted was a woman's point of view. Mavis at least was known for her wise and great insight on many things. She remembered Mavis' words from Fairy Tail's gathering a week ago. "_You are not alone. We are all members of Fairy Tail. All of us are friends, you and I are nakama. Don't hesitate to ask for our help if you need something, whatever it is._"

Evergreen nodded to show Mavis she understood her message. "Thank you, Mavis-san," said Evergreen gratefully. After that, Erza and Mavis exited the room, leaving Mira and Evergreen alone.

"Have a seat please," offered Mira.

"Thanks, but I prefer to stand," said Evergreen. Although she looked calm, inside she was very nervous. She couldn't sit and act calm. It was a big thing already to come and meet Mira personally. She was fed up with Elfman. He was a man for God's sake! All the manly things that he always shouted about were rubbish, because in the end the things that he had done were _not manly_. She had to shove all her annoyed feelings down and promised herself to think about them later.

"Let's cut to the chase then," said Mira directly. "What do you want to talk about? Is is about Elfman?"

"Yes, Elfman," confirmed Evergreen. "But before that, there's another thing I want to ask first."

"I'm all ears."

"What do you think about me?"

"What I think about you?" Mira tilted her head.

"Yes."

"What do you want to know?"

"Your honest opinion of course."

"Well," Mira pondered a bit before she answered. "I don't know. I can't give my honest opinion on someone that I don't know personally. We never interact with each other directly even though we're in the same gang. I've heard bits about you from here and there but I don't like to assume something based on rumors. You coming to talk to me here is proof that rumors are rumors only. You're not as haughty as others think you are."

Evergreen was aware of most of the rumors flying about. Saying she was a seducer, always flirting with men, and that being 'queen of police' had made her arrogant and haughty over the people below her, and many more. _Yes_, she was a seducer and flirted with men, but it was only when she had to do her job. She _was_ proud of her title as queen of police thank you, and the only people that she regarded as below her status were criminals. She _could_ refute all the negative rumors but she didn't. It was too bothersome and it didn't matter what others thought about her, as long as her colleagues and friends knew she wasn't like that.

"It's a pain in the neck to quash every rumor," said Evergreen. "They can think whatever they want, I don't care. All that matters to me are the people that know me; they know that I'm not like that. And thank you for not believing those rumors."

"I'm also a victim of false rumors. I know exactly how deadly and wrong that sort of thing can be. And I also know that Fairy Tail's members won't ever do that kind of thing. Mavis-san would not allow you to join Fairy Tail if you were that kind of person in the first place."

"No wonder _**he**_ thinks so highly of you." muttered Evergreen softly, a chagrined smile tugging on her lips as she remembered a certain man.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing, just talking to myself. Then Mira, can I say that I'm not a bad person in your book?"

"You're part of the police force, Evergreen. How can someone like you be a bad person?"

"Please be serious Mira. You know what I mean."

"As I said before, I don't know. What I know is Elfman trusts you. And honestly, I also want to know you better. After all you are someone that caught my brother's attention. Someone who has made him think twice what happened three years ago was not his fault. And for that, I can't thank you enough."

"He's someone that I respect. Someone that I admire. I don't want anyone to think badly of him… especially Elfman. I know there must be reasons for the things he had done, even for what he did to you."

"He did. I know he did." Mira reached for her necklace and twined her finger on the chain before she released it. She stared straight at the other woman. "Evergreen, what do you really want to ask me?"

"Mira… I like Elfman," Evergreen said her confession straight to Mira. "And I know Elfman also likes me. Our feelings are mutual." The feelings she'd tried to deny for Elfman had rapidly grown after he became her assistant. Elfman followed each case Evergreen had to handle, whether it was with Raijinshuu or when it was her own case. He wasn't only an assistant for her; he was her right hand man. After three months since becoming her assistant, they had trusted each other enough to watch the other's back. She thought of him not as an assistant anymore. He was her teammate, her colleague... _her partner_.

And not only that. She couldn't deny the attraction that she felt toward the muscle man. And he felt it too. He once protected her from a stray bullet, pulling her out of the line of fire. She knew that if they were involved in a fight, he would protect her and she felt safe near him. In the station, the ones that dared enough (Bickslow and Freed) would tease both of them about how close they were. They even went on a date!

"But?" Mira could sense the but was hanging in the air.

"But your brother… Elfman doesn't want to acknowledge his feelings. He even dared to tell me that we can only be friends." Evergreen crossed her arms. "He said that me and him make good partners. And he enjoyed working with me. But that's it." Evergreen wanted to strangle Elfman after he'd said she couldn't become anything more to him than a partner. After all the sparks, the tensions, the closeness between them, he _dared_ to say that he only wanted to be friends. "He said that it was manly to know when and where to withdraw and not crossing a line that shouldn't be crossed." A vein popped up on her forehead and throbbed as she remembered a particular conversation. "Manly, my ass!" hissed Evergreen, annoyed.

One day Elfman asked Evergreen to go on a date with him. The date was blissful and she enjoyed that day very much. He even booked a table for dinner at a classy restaurant. Her heart leaped in joy, she thought that Elfman would at long last ask her to be his girlfriend. A wide smile graced her face for the whole dinner. When all the food had been eaten and they were enjoying their wine, Elfman dropped his bomb. He had asked Makarov to be transferred to another department, he'd no longer be her assistant starting the day after. Her smile dropped and turned into a scowl in a second.

"_What do you mean?_"

"_Ever, we can't go any further than this._"

"_Again, what __**do**_ _you mean? Don't beat around the bush._"

"_I know about your feelings, I can feel it. And for that I'm grateful. To be someone that you like is an honor to me… But, sorry, I can't return your feelings._"

"_...Are you joking with me? What kind of bulshit are you spouting right now?_"

"_This isn't a joke, never over something this serious. But, liking you wasn't my intention in the beginning. I truly admire you as a police woman. Despite being a woman and someone who's __**his**_ _acquaintance, for me you are so manly. When I was being supervised by you as a new officer, you had me hooked with your charm. That's why I asked Master personally to work under you, so that I can learn more things from you. I never thought that we would become this close._"

"_Not your intention in the beginning, okay I get it. I also didn't want to be involved with you either at first. To be honest, I kind of disliked you just because you're Mira's brother. But you have proven to me that what I thought of you was wrong. Yet, that was in the past. We're different now. You and I have different feelings towards each other. Don't you dare deny it!_"

"_I won't say anything about that. I have decided to put distance between us and to only stay friends. It's manly to know when you have to withdraw from the line you should not cross. Starting from tomorrow, I will work as a traffic police officer. This is the last time we'll have together._"

Evergreen was seething with anger. She got up from her seat and splashed Elfman with her wine. After that she stormed out of the restaurant. Since then she'd managed to avoid Elfman. It all happened two weeks ago.

"He's a coward that couldn't face his own feelings and preferred to run from it. He has made my life a disaster these past two weeks. I really wanted to strangle him for making me this miserable… No, from making me feel this heartbreak." She had never in her whole life liked someone as strong and as much as she'd liked Elfman. As cliche as it sounded, she realized too late that she didn't want any other man in her private life except Elfman. Working together was the most enjoyable time she'd had. All their banter, their arguments, their conversations, their laughter… She _missed_ all of it.

"He said that I was manly. Even though I wasn't happy to hear that I was manly, I knew he was sincere."

"Elfman is a simple and honest person. And I know that he didn't want to acknowledge his feelings for you, mostly because of me…"

"No. Don't blame yourself, Mira. It's not your fault that this buffoon is so stubborn. He decided all by himself. He didn't consider _my_ feelings at all. I was so fed up and angry when I realized that. That's why I came here to talk you, to ask for your permission for something I want to do today."

"My permission for what?"

"To **knock** some sense into your brother's head! I will show him how _manly_ I can be." Evergreen stared into Mira's eyes, waiting for her answer.

"What if I don't agree?"

"I will still do it. I don't want to have any regret and won't delay it any longer."

Evergreen's words struck Mira hard. If only she hadn't delayed her decision back then, she wouldn't feel any regret eating her up alive - that still was happening up to and including this moment. But before the feelings could overwhelm her, she shoved it to the deepest part of her heart. That was for another time.

"Then, you have my permission," Mira approached Evergreen, taking and holding Evergreen's hands. "I'm aware of your situation and Elfman. But I can't take any action to help you because I am the one of the reasons he did this stupid thing. Lisanna tried to reason with him also, but he was still firm with his decision. The only one that can knock sense and make him realise he's making a mistake is you. So, go to him and don't take no for an answer. But, don't knock him too hard, okay?"

"Mira… is that an okay from you for us to be official?"

"You heard my words."

"I did… Thanks."

"You're welcome," said Mira smiling. "Then the flowers that you want to buy are for Elfman, yes?"

"They are." Evergreen nodded. There's a saying about Fairy Heart that went around Magnolia: '_If you want to make a confession, you have to buy flowers from Fairy Heart._' That's why Evergreen decided to buy flowers from Fairy Heart, not to mention that Mira also worked there in Fairy Heart. She was killing two birds with one stone.

"AH!" exclaimed Mira. "How about I make a bouquet for you? Just think of it as a good luck charm from me. I know the perfect arrangement of flowers to represent your feelings for him."

"Sure." Evergreen agreed easily. Mira exited the meeting room excitedly and Mavis came into the room just a minute after, approaching Evergreen who greeted the short blonde peaceably. "Mavis-san."

"I see that you have made a decision," said Mavis. Talking to Mira was Mavis' idea. It was something that she had considered to do also, but Mavis had given her a push that she needed.

"I will do all I can to get what I want," said Evergreen with conviction.

"Good to know," said Mavis happily. "You need two people to become a couple. If one of them is unwilling to admit their feelings, then the other has to do something for it to become true. And mostly, that role is always the responsibility of us women. Most of the customers that came to Fairy Heart are women that decided to take action to make their love official. And a woman in love is the most loveliest woman in the world." Mavis' eyes turned soft and she continued her little speech. "Being a woman is something special. We can do most of men's work, but not all of men can handle what we can. Being manly while you're a woman is something special in itself. You are the whole package in one person. Elfman has to be blind if he still doesn't want to make you his. But whatever the result, you are still you."

"Mavis-san is right," said Erza, cutting into the conversation suddenly. She'd entered the room and walked towards the two other women. "You are very brave, Evergreen. Despite all the odd things between you and Elfman, you are not giving up on your feelings. Elfman was right when he said that you are manly. Not all men can be this manly to be honest with their feelings."

"You're a special case too, Erza, being a manly woman yourself." Evergreen rolled her eyes but a big smile was also on her lips.

"I know," said Erza smiling just as widely.

A while later Mira came back holding a beautiful bouquet of red and pink flowers. Evergreen's eyes were glued to the bouquet and frankly, she was speechless to see how beautiful a bouquet of flowers could be.

Mira handed the bouquet to Evergreen. "These are camellias. There's a saying that the camellia is the perfect gift for a man. Red camellias symbolize passion or desire, and pink ones symbolize longing. The combination of red and pink camellias express romantic love."

Evergreen accepted the bouquet and inhaled the sweet fragrance. "This is lovely," said Evergreen, blissfully.

"Your passion of wanting to have your man, the longing for companionship, and then your love for Elfman… This bouquet is full of your feelings, Evergreen," said Mavis and Evergreen nodded.

"Go to Elfman and tell him your feelings once again, Ever," said Mira encouragingly. "Go and get your man!"

"Elfman will know that Mira has given her blessing by looking at these flowers," said Mavis, "He can't run away from his feelings, anymore."

"I guess you don't need a card for this," said Erza, "Just speak your feelings, loud and clear."

Evergreen looked at the three florists in turn but spoke to Mira. "Thank you, Mira. I won't waste the blessing and support you've given me."

"I know you won't."

They saw Evergreen to the front but before Evergreen left the shop, she remembered something she'd planned to tell Mira. "Mira."

"Yes?"

"He… Laxus has returned to Magnolia."

Mira stared at Evergreen for a minute before she gave the police woman a thin smile. "I see."

"Good luck on your confession Evergreen," Mavis waved cheerfully.

"You go girl," winked Erza.

"I'm waiting for the good news," Mira gave a sweet smile.

"Thanks guys. See you later." The police woman exited the building, got inside her vehicle, revved the engine and stepped on the gas to go and get her man.

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**To be continued**


	10. V - Flowers for My Man (Part 3)

Okay, here's another update. The conclusion on Elfman and Evergreen's story.

And all the editing credits goes to my beta reader, **nalufever**!

Just read and enjoy!

Miyuu

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V - **_Flowers for My Man (Part 3)_**

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A traffic police officer was in one of Magnolia's intersections. He was leaning on his big motorbike while his eyes observed the traffic on the road. It was his break time, a cup of coffee in one of his hands. A police car stopped in front of the him and that car's window rolled down to show two other officers inside the car.

"Yo Elfman!"

"Taking a break?"

"Bickslow and Freed," Elfman greeted the two cops. He gulped down the rest of his cold coffee and threw the cup in the nearest garbage bin. "What're you doing?"

"We're on break too," said Freed from the driver's seat. "Just passing this road and when we saw you, decided to stop."

"Got a minute to chat?" asked Bickslow.

"Sure."

Bickslow exited the car and then Freed pulled it ahead and parked it out of the way of traffic before joining his friends. "Where's Ever?"

"That's the first thing you ask us, huh?" teased Bickslow, wiggling one of his brows.

"Just asking. It's manly to be straight forward."

"Ha-ha," Bickslow gave a dry laugh. "You're missing Ever, aren't you?"

"Ever had something to do and went off first thing at break. We don't know where she went," answered Freed.

"...How is she?" Freed and Bickslow exchanged glances before they sighed simultaneously.

"Her level of being Medusa has spiked to her becoming Medusa Queen. Everywhere she goes, she leaves a trail of victims, petrified from her glares. Even me and Freed can't escape them," complained Bickslow with a frown.

"No one has dared to approach her for these past two weeks. Master tried to talk to her but in the end he just told us to give Ever time and space," said Freed in a resigned tone. "She's like a ticking time bomb that's ready to explode as soon as someone even thinks about pushing her buttons."

After becoming Evergreen's assistant, Elfman had also gotten closer with Bickslow and Freed. At the beginning, Elfman didn't actually want to have _any_ interactions with team Raijinshuu. He'd been very surprised to learn Evergreen would be his supervisor.

It was because of that certain person; _he_, the man that he had been looking up to, **but** was also the one that had hurt his dearest sister, was part of team Raijinshuu. Of all the people in the station, why did it have to be one of _his_ teammates?

Elfman treasured his family, his siblings were everything to him. He respected his elder sister and cared for his younger sister, very much. When the incident three years ago happened, it really pained him to see someone hurting his sister. He swore that he would not let anyone hurt his family, ever again. He knew that working at the police station meant that he could run into team Raijinshuu, but it didn't mean that he had to be in close proximity to them, and he was cool with it. But devious fate had other plans for him. In the end he tried to be professional. He was a newbie, he couldn't protest or complain.

After working with Evergreen and sometimes with the Raijinshuu, not only Elfman's point of view had changed but he had also become friends with them all. He realized that his prejudice against the team was wrong. But the most surprising thing was how he fell for Evergreen. Every rumor that he'd heard about the interrogator was truly terrible. And even though they were in the same gang, Elfman had never gotten directly involved with anything her or her teammates had done.

Little by little, Elfman learned that Evergreen wasn't as horrible as the rumors had painted. She had her reasons for the things she'd done and she just didn't care that everybody talked behind her back, as long as her colleagues and teammates knew she wasn't like that. He felt ashamed when he realized how wrong and demeaning rumors could be. He should have known better. He should have known how wrong it was to jump to conclusions; his elder sister, after all was a victim of rumors too. He got along with team Raijinshuu and asked Makarov to work under Evergreen again. And he'd enjoyed the time they'd worked together.

Evergreen exuded a superior aura while in fact, she was a woman that also longed to be protected. They bantered, they argued, they laughed together… and the spark that flew between them had burned brightly, a glorious warm experience that served to allow them to become even closer. Love was the end result expected from such a blazing fire.

Elfman knew that Evergreen also had romantic feelings for him. He was elated when he imagined that they could become a couple. If only he hadn't seen _him_ coming out of the chief's office, he would've asked Evergreen on the date that he'd prepared. That date was supposed to give him the opportunity to ask her to be his girlfriend. Instead, he decided it was time to withdraw from Evergreen. His sister's situation forced him to make the next move.

After all the stories and explanations from Evergreen, Elfman didn't hate _him_ as much as before. Though he still blamed him, he'd at least give him a chance to fix it. Yet, regarding his situation with Evergreen… Instead of moving forward, he took a step back. He knew he was a coward. He would shiver from time to time, no doubt it was courtesy of Evergreen cursing him.

Asking Makarov to be assigned to another post was his last attempt to draw a line and separate himself from temptation. Until his sister's personal matter was solved, he wouldn't settle his own feelings. And honestly speaking, it was a _very_ difficult thing to do. His mind would always travel back to the time he and Evergreen had spent together.

"You know," Bickslow cut into Elfman's train of thought. "Laxus is back in Magnolia."

"...I know. I saw him two weeks ago before my transfer, coming out from Master's office."

"Is that why you asked for a new assignment?" Freed looked at Elfman from the corner of his eyes.

"...Yes."

"Ever will have your head if she knows, you know." Bickslow shook his head.

"And it won't only be your head, **ours** will be included. She'll come for us all and it won't be pretty," added Freed.

"I know…" Elfman sighed. "You don't have to tell me the obvious."

"Elfman, I know that you still harbor dislike for Laxus. But I think it's not a good idea to let what happened in the past be a hindrance for your future. You and Ever clearly have mutual romantic feelings towards each other."

"Dude, be a man and don't run from your feelings. That's not _manly_!"

Freed and Bickslow shared their thoughts and tried to reason with Elfman. Elfman knew they were right. He knew that it wasn't manly to run away from your feelings. But… his feelings came second in importance to his sister's feelings. _Still_….

_SCREECHH!_

A police car suddenly stopped in front of the three, making them jump a few feet from their spot and almost fall.

"WHOA!"

"What the hell?!" cursed Bickslow.

"Thank god for my good reflexes," said Freed.

"Hey you! Roll down the window and show me your license!" Instead of rolling down the car's window, the driver's door was opened and out came someone they all knew. Someone they'd just been talking about.

"What's got in your pants Ever? Just because you've been deprived of Elfman for these two weeks doesn't mean that you can do whatever you want. You almost got us killed!" complained Bickslow, annoyed.

"Shut up Bickslow. I don't want to hear anything you have to say." Evergreen dismissed Bickslow's complaints. "Elfman, I want to talk to you. Freed, take your idiot partner and go."

"Tch! So much for a teammate, huh?" scowled Bickslow.

"Bickslow, come on," Freed pulled Bickslow's arm hard. He had to practically drag the scowling man away.

Whether it was luck or misfortune for Elfman that the traffic was not crowded, he honestly didn't know. "Ever, we don't have anything to talk about."

"We have _**one thing**_ to talk about, you doofus." How like Elfman to make her angry in under a minute, just as they began talking. "Just so you know, I got permission from your sister already. I will knock sense into your thick-headed skull; and if I have to do it the hard way, so be it."

"Wait, wait. You talked to Mira-nee?"

"I did. Wait a minute," Evergreen went back to the police car and took out a flower bouquet from the back seat. She handed the bouquet to him. "This is for you."

"... For what?" Elfman was beyond confused; it wasn't his birthday, he wasn't fond to be given flowers and not to mention, he was still on duty. His arms didn't move a muscle to accept the bouquet.

"I got this bouquet from Mira, she made it, a bouquet that is full of my feelings and I give it to you, now. Here, take the flowers."

Elfman wanted to take the bouquet, but he also didn't want to take it. He knew what it meant if he accepted the bouquet, he wasn't that dense. His hands remained as his sides, refusing to take the flowers from Evergreen. "Ever…" Elfman looked at Evergreen uneasily, "I can't."

"So… we'll be doing it the hard way. Okay, I get it." Evergreen walked to the car and put the bouquet back into the back seat. Then, she marched to Elfman and before Elfman knew, he was being elbowed in his stomach by Evergreen, doubled over by how hard the jab was. She was a member of the elite force for good reason, not just for show only.

"UGH!" Elfman holding his stomach, let out a painful moan. "E-ver… Wh-at, are y-ou do-ing?"

"I already told you. I have permission _to __**knock**_ sense into you. Just be grateful that I decided not to hit your head. Or else your stupid brain will become even stupider because I'm not going to pull any of my punches," said Evergreen nonchalantly as if she just talking about the weather and not just recently hitting a man that was twice her size. There were some crowds surrounding the two of them now. But Evergreen didn't care about that. She focused on the man in front of her, painfully moaning.

"Yo-u… are… insane," Elfman tried to straighten his body before another hard jab landed on his back and made him sprawl on the ground. "UGH!"

"It's thanks to you that I have to resort to violence. You know already that I will get whatever I want. I won't give up until I get it. And that also applies to this matter. It doesn't matter to me how many times I have to knock you down before you see sense. In fact, it's kind of a stress relief for me. You've made my life miserable for these past two weeks." Evergreen stood tall beside Elfman and cracked her knuckles to show that she was _serious_.

"Wa-WAIT! Let's talk like civilized people, Ever!" said Elfman in a panic. His life was in danger.

"Talking to you is like talking to a bull. You dare propose to talk civilized? And what's the result of the so called 'talk' you wanted, huh? You've made a stupid decision by yourself without taking my feelings into account!" Evergreen vented her suppressed anger. She crouched beside Elfman and pulled the man's collar, their faces just an inch from each other. "You're always talking about manly 'this' and manly 'that'. You know what, you're just a coward. What you've done to us, to **me, **isn't manly at all! How can you disregard my feelings just like that? You dimwit!"

The crowd had grown, and all the curious onlookers were watching Evergreen confront Elfman.

"I know that there's a problem between Mira and Laxus. I never asked you to forget about what happened. But it was in the past and can't be undone! And Mira has given her blessings for us. Her making the bouquet is proof that she wants us to be official. All of my feelings are represented in the bouquet. My desires to be your woman, the longing to be with you… the love that I feel for you… And you said that you can't take it. HOW DARE YOU!"

"Ever…"

"Don't you Ever me!" shouted Evergreen. Venting out her anger and emotions had drained her energy more than if she'd had to interrogate someone. At least her emotions didn't get as involved in an interrogation. Her breath was ragged, as if she'd just run a marathon.

They were staring into each other eyes in silence. Elfman's nerve broke and he muttered in resignation, "What do you want me to do?"

"Be honest with yourself," Evergreen implored in a soft voice. "Don't restrain your feelings and make both of us suffer any longer. We have Mira's blessings already and I know that Laxus will also want me to have my own happiness. So Elfman… take me as your woman."

Elfman took Evergreen into his embrace. "You are so manly, Ever. I have fallen for you again. From now on, you are my woman." He crushed her body to his and covered Evergreen's lips with loving kisses. Their kisses grew heated, wanting and needing to taste each other, more and more. She circled her arms around Elfman's shoulders. They were so into each other that they didn't notice the cheers from the crowd.

At the edge of the gawkers, a blond man with a lightning scar on his right eye was walking away from the crowd. A thin and proud smile spread on his face. "That's the Evergreen I know." He disappeared into another bustling crowd.

At the other side of the crowd, a group of five people were standing at the back.

"Wuuhuu~~!" whistled Bickslow loudly. "You go, Ever!"

"AWW! I can feel the passion burning hot between them from here!" Mavis' eyes became starry, feeling excited.

"That's Ever for you," said Freed, a satisfied smile on his face.

"She's indeed so manly." Erza nodded proudly.

Mira was holding a video camera, filming the whole scene. She was thankful her brother could find his own happiness. She wished for Elfman and Evergreen to avoid being like her and Laxus… She shook her head to dismiss that distressing thought. "They are very sweet!"

"If the two of them get married, it will become the talk of the year in Magnolia's Police Station," said Freed flippantly. "But I'm sure it won't happen in the near future."

"And if they have a kid, the police station will be their playground." Bickslow also added his thought.

"If they have a kid…" Mira imagined what Evergreen and Elfman's child would look like. And suddenly she burst into a torrent of tears. "HUAAAAA!"

"Mira!" Mavis called out in panic. "What happened?"

"I-I tried to imagine what Elfman and Evergreen's child would look like, b-but… The poor child!"

"Mira, what does your imagination tell you about the child's appearance?" Erza asked curiously.

"The child will have Evergreen's wild hair but it's also spiky like Elfman's with its mother eyes and heavily muscled body like its father. OHH! Poor child!"

The others sweatdropped from Mira's wild imagination. Erza patted Mira's shoulder to comfort her. "But it's only in your imagination."

"But we don't know yet, Erza!"

"They won't have any kids in the near future. Maybe we can do something for them to not have a child that resembles the one from your imagination."

"Can we?" hiccuped Mira.

"Who knows?" shrugged Erza.

Lost in their own private world, Elfman and Evergreen finally released each other from their loving embrace and saw passion reflected in each other's eyes. "Be my woman, Ever," said Elfman huskily.

"Who else would be your woman?"

"Hehe… You got it right."

"Let's go somewhere else. Too many spectators here."

"Come on."

Evergreen pulled Elfman to the car and both of them got in. She took the driver's seat while Elfman was (forced to) take the passenger seat. Inside, she took the bouquet from the back and gave it to Elfman, "Flowers for my man."

He took it this time. "This is manly," grinned Elfman.

They drove off with a spray of gravel, leaving the cheering crowd behind.

Evergreen's passion, her longing and her desires to be with the man that she loved had won the day. Even though there's still a matter to be solved before their happiness could be called perfect, they had taken a step forward to make that happiness come true. Camellia, a gift for man, a flower that represented all of Evergreen's feelings for Elfman. The same feelings that Elfman harbored for Evergreen. A perfect flower that brought them together and for them to reach their goal of happiness.

* * *

**To be continued**

* * *

That's it! What do you think for this couple? Even though this is one of the canon couple, but honestly, they're not my top three favorite pair and that's why I'm a bit afraid that I didn't get their character on the spot. BUT, I hope that I don't make Elfman and Evergreen OOC. And of course I hope you like it as well.

Stay tuned for the next chapter and may you have a good day. Jaa~~!


	11. VI - No Words Needed (Part 1)

After a year has passed, I give you another chapter.

So very sorry for the super lateness of this chapter. Many things happened and of course, I can't mention it one by one. But I decided to post the next chapter after much consideration.

I've lost contact with my beta-reader. Yeah, blame it on me for not updating the story for such a long time that she has become busy with another thing. So, this is an un-beta version and I do the editing by myself. So I want to apologize first if there are any grammatical mistakes.

Without further ado, may you enjoy this chapter.

Miyuu

* * *

VI -_** No Words Needed**_

* * *

"Mira was really happy when Elfman and Evergreen became a couple. Her reaction regarding their kid in the future is just her concern about their child, but that's purely her imagination. She is really supportive of their relationship." Mavis concluded her story.

"Elfman and Evergreen's story was the talk of the year in Magnolia in that year," said Erza cutting in. "Magnolia is not a big city. It's a town where almost everybody knows who is who. The police station was swamped with many reporters and journalists who demanded Evergreen and Elfman to be interviewed. It was around that time that our dislike of journalists began."

"What did they do?" Lucy asked hesitantly. As a fellow journalist, Lucy knew very well how _persistent_ journalists could be. They would resort to anything possible for them to get the news that they wanted. She didn't exaggerate.

"Let just say that I had to use my shinai to drive most of them off." Erza had resorted to using her shinai meant that the journalist had done _lots_ of things.

"Did Elfman and Evergreen get to be interviewed then?"

"They did. Magnolia TV interviewed them in one of their programs." Magnolia TV Station was the only available TV station in Magnolia city. It was broadcast and watched by the entire citizen of Magnolia City. "As I said before their story was the talk of that year. And not only that, it was even made into a movie. In short, they had become a celebrity in just one day. Mira has the interview and movie if you want to see."

"I will see it later, I guess." Honestly, Lucy was eager to see the film, but she would keep it later.

"In the interview, Evergreen mentioned that she got the bouquet from Fairy Heart," Mavis continued where Erza left off. "At that time, we were already a well-known flower shop, thanks to Levy's blog and the customers. There were one or two journalists who had asked to interview us but we declined it. But since the interview, words are not enough to reject them. It's really troublesome for us."

"It's been two years since then and they still persistently try to get us an interview." Erza shook her head exasperatedly. "They were getting on my nerves sometimes."

"Ha-ha…" Lucy laughed uneasily. "Uhm… sorry about that." Somehow Lucy felt the need to apologize for all the trouble her fellow journalist had caused to Fairy Heart's employee. They had become her friends after all.

"It's not your fault," assured Mavis. "Actually we aren't really against being interviewed. It will be a good promotion for us to be featured in the magazine and such. It just, the way they approached us is wrong."

"We have told you yesterday that instead of listening to us, they just barraged us with questions and questions," Erza referred to her words before. "Before we could say anything, they launched the questions nonstop. Forget about the interview, we were busy saving our lives from those hungry journalists before they could literally eat us."

"In the beginning, we gave them a chance to interview us. I acknowledged their persistence in not giving up to interview us. That's why we agreed in the end. And turned out it was a _big_ mistake." Mavis sighed.

"What happened?" Lucy was scared to ask, but she was _also_ curious.

"The journalists got wind of Gray and Juvia's story. Somehow they knew that Juvia gave Gray a bouquet of flowers from Fairy Heart. Then about Chelia's best friend, Wendy, who also got flowers from her boyfriend and said the bouquet was from Fairy Heart. They are _celebrities_ in Magnolia. Not to mention things that Levy made in her blog, she also writes her story about us having helped her to be together with Gajeel. Just do the math. Can you guess what happened?" Lucy had a hunch but she shook her head no. "Out of nowhere so many reporters and journalists came here. They swamped the place and almost trampled the flowers."

Lucy tried to imagine what chaos it would be like if many reporters and journalists came to Fairy Heart.

"They were lucky that I didn't hit them. Mira was also lashing out her demon persona. It was all thanks to the police that Mavis-san called." So it wasn't Lucy's imagination when she felt about Mira's aura back then. She was glad that she wasn't bold enough to not hear the warning in Mira's tone. A cold sweat role on her back. "They ordered the reporter and journalist to go back. Good thing that they obeyed the order." _Or they would be dead meat,_ Lucy heard Erza muttered lowly. "We have banned reporters and journalists from coming since then. But as you know, they are still coming. "

"Ha-ha…" Lucy let out another uneasy laugh. She _was_ one of them after all. She took a mental note to do something to say her gratitude for giving her a chance to listen to their story. "Then, lucky me that I can listen to your story."

"Indeed," Erza nodded. "It's only you that said the word which we want to hear. That you will listen to us, instead of us listening to you."

She barely escaped unscathed though, Lucy thought inwardly. _Oh well_… all's well that ends well. Then suddenly she remembered something that had bothered her when Mavis narrated the story of Elfman and Evergreen. "Mavis-san."

"What is it?"

"You've mentioned someone in the story before, but you never told me the name of this person or who he is. Who's this person actually?"

Mavis didn't answer Lucy's questions and stayed silent. Neither Erza said any word about the question. The sudden silence made Lucy nervous. Did she ask something forbidden that shouldn't be asked? This person that she asked... Was he someone that shouldn't be mentioned?

"I will tell you who this person is." Mira's voice could be heard from Lucy's back. Lucy turned to see Mira walking to the three. "Mavis-san, Makarov-san is looking for you. He's waiting in the line right now."

"Does he tell what he wants to talk about?" asked Mavis.

"He said that he has a piece of news about _him_," said Mira solemnly. Lucy saw that Mavis's eyes widened a little before it turned normal again.

"I'll get it then." Mavis got up from her seat and walked to the inner part of the shop. Mira then took over her previous seat.

"Is everything okay?" Lucy eyed to where Mavis had disappeared to. Even though it was subtle, she could see that Mavis was in the haste of going to answer the phone.

"It isn't something that you have to worry about right now." Or in other words, it wasn't your business to meddle with, Lucy thought. She understood the message and kept her mouth shut.

"Anyway back to your question. If it's about the man that Mavis-san mentioned, and of why they didn't tell you who this person is, it's because this man is the main lead in my story."

"We just feel that it isn't our place to tell about Laxus, he is your man after all," said Erza matter-of-factly. "You can explain who he is better than us."

"You have a boyfriend Mira?" Lucy asked the florist. But looking at Mira, it's no wonder that she was in a relationship already.

"Not anymore," Mira shook her head slowly. "He's my ex."

"Oh, I'm so sorry."

"Oh please don't be," said Mira with a big-sweet-happy smile adorning her face which Lucy thought was strange. She never saw someone smile happily after they broke up."He has become my ex because Laxus is no longer my boyfriend but my husband. We've been married for two months already."

"You are MARRIED?!" Lucy's eyes immediately scanned Mira's left finger. "Huh? But, you don't wear any ring on your finger." Then Lucy remembered Mavis' situation. "Is it because you have a similar situation like Mavis-san? Something that can't be told about?"

"It isn't something as serious as you think," said Mira casually. "And for Mavis-san, her situation is not something that can't be told about, more like **now** isn't the right time to talk about it yet."

"...I get it."

"Now, about why I don't wear my ring. It is because Laxus hasn't given me one."

"What?" Lucy gawked at Mira. Didn't she say that it's not serious? How can someone get married without a ring?! In her opinion, THAT was beyond serious. "How come?"

"It's because of the promise that he and I made years ago," said Mira melancholy, then she looked solemnly to Lucy. "We have a long history." Mira paused before she continued. "You are well versed with stories, aren't you? If I have to put the genre to the story of mine, it will be an angst story. It's different from all the happy stories you have heard so far. Do you still want to hear it?"

"...But it has a happy ending, hasn't it? You're married to him after all."

"It has, but the process to get that happy ending was full of the thorny path."

"That's the more reason for me to hear what you've been through." When she listened to Elfman and Evergreen's story, Lucy was curious about the nameless man. Then she knew that this man was the main lead in Mira's story. Mira was pulling her leg if she didn't want to tell the story. Her toe fingers were tingling with anticipation. "Please tell me!"

Mira showed a kind smile to Lucy. "You're that eager to hear the story?"

"Yes!" The blonde journalist was _more_ than eager to hear about the story.

"Okay," chuckled Mira. "Hmm…where should I begin?"

"Start from the beginning of course."

"Beginning? But, we weren't born at the same time and he's four years older than me-"

"Come on, Mira," said Lucy sweatdropped. "Not **that** beginning that I'm talking about."

"Just joking with you," said Mira teasingly. "Okay then, I'll guess I have to tell you about my family past. It all began when I was ten years old. That made Elfman nine and Lisanna eight. We lived in a town called Gerbera which is five kilometers from Magnolia. My parents were a police officer and they got promoted to work as a criminal investigator in Magnolia Police Station. Gerbera's police station is not as big as in Magnolia and you could say that their talents were wasted at Gerbera so they were moved to Magnolia. All of us moved into Magnolia because of the promotion. And surprisingly our next-door neighbor is Magnolia Chief of Police, Makarov Dreyar. Makarov lived with his grandson only."

"His grandson is Laxus," Erza said suddenly.

"Eh?" Lucy turned her head to Erza. "You know him also Erza?" After that Lucy realized that was a stupid question. But Erza didn't mind it and gave her an answer.

"Makarov-san has an orphanage named Fairy Hill. I was one of the kids that he took to the orphanage. And Laxus was often going with Makarov-san to visit us back then. So, yeah I know him," answered Erza. "But that before he turned into something else."

"What do you mean?"

"Yes, Laxus is Makarov-san's only grandson," continued Mira. Lucy whipped her head to look at Mira again. "But he's also the leader of a delinquent's gang, Dragon's Roar, in Magnolia."

"He is the leader of a delinquent gang in Magnolia?!" exclaimed Lucy. "Mira, no offense, but your husband is dangerous!"

"He _was_, it's in the past. Laxus is a Chief Inspector at Magnolia Police Station right now. So I guarantee you that he is **not** dangerous, as long as you're not a criminal." Mira gave a meaningful smile. "Know back to the story. My parents knew who Makarov-san was and as time went by, they got along well despite him being their boss. We, the siblings, also got along well with Laxus… You know he's my first crush." Mira's eyes softened and a melancholy looked shown on it. "I really miss those days…"

"What happened?" Lucy felt the foreboding tell from the sudden change in Mira's expression of her question. "Did something terrible happen?"

"Something did happen. And it wasn't a terrible one," Mira looked into Lucy's eyes straight. "It was beyond that."

Lucy could feel the tension inside the room was raising a bit. "Has someone… died?"

Mira closed her eyes then opened it before she said her next words. It was deadly serious. "My parents died because they were involved in a case." Lucy wanted to gasp but she bit her lower lip. "And the one that killed my parents was Laxus's father." She gasped this time. "My story will begin after the death of my parents and what happened that unfolds after that. Do you still want to hear it?"

Lucy nodded slowly and not saying any words. Mira turned to Erza, her eyes as if asked something that couldn't be voiced to the scarlet haired woman. Erza also nodded to give her consent.

"Okay then," sighed Mira. "It was twelve years ago when my parents died. I was thirteen years old at that time…"

* * *

**_Twelve years ago_**

Mirajane Strauss stood in front of her parents' tombs. She had been standing at the exact spot for almost an hour, since the end of the funeral's sermon. She was drenched from the heavy downpour but even then, she didn't give any sign that she would move from her spot. She knew that Makarov had taken Elfman and Lisanna back to their home.

_Home… _Wasn't that the place where someone lived with their family; their parents and siblings? Her parents no longer would live with them, they had gone to a place that they couldn't return from. Even though she and her siblings would still live there… Was it okay to still call the place that she lived in as_ home_?

The painful feelings were beginning to crawl into her heart. When she heard the news of her parents' death, all she could feel was numb. Makarov-jii-san came into her house and brought the news of her parents who died three days ago. While Elfman and Lisanna cried their hearts out, wailing and sobbing until they didn't have the energy to cry, Mira just sat lifelessly at their living room couch. It was a good thing that she listened to Makarov's suggestion when he told her to sit because her legs had turned into jelly after she heard the news. She stared blankly at Makarov while the old man was trying to tell her how her parents died. She heard the words but she didn't want to acknowledge it.

Mira turned to her left when she felt there was another presence standing beside her. She lifted her head to see the person's face. It was someone that she wanted to see the least at that moment. "What are you doing here?"

"I haven't paid my respect to your parents," said the person indifferent.

Mira cast her eyes back to the tomb. "You don't have to." _You don't deserve to._

"But I want to." Mira bit her lip to stop the snide remarks from escaping her mouth. She didn't want to make a scene in front of her parents' tomb. "Don't hold your tongue. I know that you want to curse at me."

"Stop talking as if you know me so well," spite Mira bitterly. "You are just seventeen years old teenager that happens to be my next-door neighbor and my childhood friend."

"You left out that this childhood friend also happens to be the son of the person that murder your parents."

"Cut the crap Laxus. Just shoot whatever you want to tell." Mira didn't have the patience to argue with her 'sparring partner'. Laxus Dreyar, the blond-haired boy, was Makarov Dreyar's grandson. Their house was next to each other and since three years ago Mira moved from Gerbera with her family, they had become friends. _Well_, frenemy was the more exact term. Their favorite activity was to be in each other's throat after all. Not to mention that they liked to fight each other, in all literally means. Laxus was four years older than Mira but she didn't see it as something to be afraid of.

Being police, Mira's parents had trained their children since little so that they could defend themselves. And Mira was a good fighter; she was a tomboy, to begin with. With her strength and mischievous acts, no boys or girls dare to get near let alone befriended her. She didn't have friends for her to play with. Her friends were only her siblings, but even they were not as strong as Mira. Then, she met Laxus.

With the blond boy, they clicked in an odd way. She didn't have to restrain her strength because the boy was stronger than anyone she had ever met. Moreover, Laxus didn't mind that she was a girl. As long as she was strong and didn't cry, he was chilled. "_I don't feel like I'm with a girl when I'm with you. You're even stronger than someone that challenged me yesterday to fight with._" Laxus said to her in one evening. If someone else said to her that she was strong, she wouldn't give a damn about it. But it was different when Laxus said the same comment. She felt elated and proud that Laxus felt like that about her.

Age was not a problem between them. In Laxus' opinion, Mira was mature enough to have a level conversation with him even though what they did the most was bickering with each other. The younger girl had something that his other friends didn't have; the guts, the wit, the mischievous, the braveness… How could this one little girl have things that he liked to have from a friend? As much as they like to bicker with each other, they knew that they were each other's best friend.

Laxus lived with his grandpa alone, his mother had died when he was a kid and his father was missing. Talking about his father was a sensitive subject to Laxus. Ivan Dreyar was a wanted man. Even Makarov didn't know whatever had possessed his son to become a criminal. Moreover to become a murderer. He hated his father for the death of his mother. But at that moment, he wanted to strangle his father for what he had done to Mira's family… Of _hurting_ Mira particularly.

"Did you forget about what I told you, that my mother also died because of my father?"

"But he wasn't the one that killed your mother directly. Your mother died because of the heartache that your father caused to her." The downpour was getting harder and harder but the two didn't mind the rain. "He **_killed_** my parents," Mira remembered Makarov telling her that Ivan shot her mother severely and when her father chased after him, he collided in an accident that took away his life. Her mother died of the lost blood when she was on the way to the hospital.

"Same thing for me."

Mira looked back at Laxus seethingly. "You are the last person that I want to see right now. I don't want to want to hear any **_bullshit_** come out from your mouth. If you really want to pay respect to my parents, just do it and scram. Don't. Bother. **Me**."

Mira knew that Laxus got her message already. One of the things that she liked about Laxus was the man knew how to read and assess any situation. Yet, she didn't understand why Laxus grabbed her wrist and pulled her inside Cardia Cathedral, a church where her parents were buried.

"What are you doing?!" Mira wriggled her hands but Laxus' grip was strong and he continued to drag Mira into the empty church. "Laxus, let me go!"

Laxus didn't let go of Mira's wrist and opened the heavy church door as if it didn't weigh a ton. She pulled Mira inside and closed the heavy door. Mira was still trying to escape from Laxus' grip, and this time Laxus released Mira's wrist from his hand. Mira fell to the ground and sent a death glare to him. She got up without a word and nursed her wrist. Her feet stomped passed Laxus, but before she could reach the door Laxus grabbed her shoulders and made her turn to face him.

They stared into each other's eyes, unblinking; water was dripping from their body and clothes to the thick red carpet in the cathedral. Mira knew that it was futile to shake off Laxus' hands. She could feel Laxus' hands gripped her shoulders tightly and nothing could peel it off until the owner of the hands let it go first. She was drenched and her energy was draining faster to her liking. She realized that her situation had taken a toll on her body and looks like her body would give in at last. To give in was only a matter of time.

BUT! She wouldn't give in yet. _Not _in front of Laxus!

"Who am I to you, Mira?" Laxus' question caught Mira off guard. She blinked several times and narrowed her brows confused.

"What do you mean?" asked Mira back.

"Who am I to you now? The son of your parents killer or your bickering partner or… I don't know what's in your head right now." Laxus inched his head closer to Mira. "You said that you didn't want to hear any bullshit from me. I do have something to tell you, but before that, I want to know where I stand. Answer me first and I will tell you."

Mira closed her eyes, she didn't like the stare that Laxus gave to her. It's almost like he could see what's in her mind and she didn't like it one bit. "Nowhere."

"Open your eyes and say it to me directly."

"Since when have I obeyed your command, huh? " said Mira derisively. "I am not your lackey. I will do what I want."

"I will kiss you if you don't open your eyes."

"When did you become a pedophile? Besides, I'm not your type. Save it for those fans of yours."

Laxus didn't heed Mira's slight insult. Instead, he pulled Mira and placed his hand on Mira's head. Then he kissed Mira's lips with fervor. Mira opened her eyes, shocked with Laxus's action. Eyes closed, he didn't see the bewilderment in Mira's eyes. Mira wanted to push Laxus back but she couldn't move. When Laxus bit her lower lip, she gasped and he used the chance to put his tongue inside her mouth. Even though he was kissing a girl that was four years younger than her, thirteen years old nonetheless, what Laxus _tasted_ at the moment was a taste of a woman, _not_ a girl.

"_UHM!_"

Mira had never been kissed by someone. She was merely thirteen years old for heaven's sake! Her shock of being kissed by Laxus was understandable. She tried with all her might to pull from Laxus but to her dismay, the man was much stronger than her. Much, _much_ stronger. And with all the things that happened to her, all the roller coaster feelings that brew inside her since the news of her parents' death … To her horror, she realized she was starting to give in to the kisses. Closing her eyes and succumbing to the pleasure of Laxus' lips, she began to kiss Laxus back...

The way Laxus kissed her now was not how an amateur would do. How many girls had been the receiving end of this… _this pleasurable kiss_? His hands had traveled down to Mira's waist and it circled the waist in a tight embrace. Mira had unconsciously placed her hands on Laxus' shirt and pulled the garment so that they were getting closer.

_No words needed. _

It was a really mind-blowing experience for Mira. _And did she just let out that loud moan?_ But before she could process the thought, suddenly Laxus stopped all the made out sessions. Mira opened her eyes and stared back directly to Laxus. They just stared at each other while regaining their breath back.

"What?" asked Mira bitingly, glaring at the man. Even though the kisses were… _amazing_, the annoyance that she felt for Laxus still linger. Moreover, she didn't want to prolong silent any longer. Laxus lifted one of his brows.

"Usually I will be slap for forcing my way like that-"

_SLAP!_

Laxus' head turned to the other side because of the slap. His cheek was throbbing. The girl surely could land a hit. He returned his head to its previous position and stared back and facing Mira's glare. "That's hurt."

"Good," said Mira deadpan. "You're asking for it. And you should be thankful I just slap you even though you had kissed me like... _that_." Mira was trying so hard not to let the embarrassment that she felt took over her at the moment. Yet, she couldn't help the warm feelings that creep up to her cheeks when she remembered their kiss.

"I know you like it, Mira." Laxus mercilessly teased the girl in his embrace. He knew that Mira was beyond embarrassed and it was his natural instinct of being her bickering partner to take every chance to tease Mira. He really couldn't help it.

Mira lifted her hand and ready to slap Laxus again but this time he caught her hand before it landed on his cheek. "Once is enough."

"Sure you don't want more?"

"Mira, let's talk." Laxus turned serious. He released her hand but pulled Mira closer to him.

"We are talking right now and by the way, I'm done with the talking. Now, let me go." Mira replied trying to be indifferent.

"I will let you go after you listen and agree on what I'm gonna say."

"I won't listen nor agree to anything you-"

"Be mine."

"..." Mira blinked her eyes several times. _Did she hear what she thought she heard?_ "What?"

"Join my gang. I can protect you and your siblings."

"What do you mean?"

"Say yes and I will explain all my plans."

"I'm my own person. No one owns _me_." Mira said fiercely. "Not even _you_."

"Listen to me first," Laxus tightened his embrace. "I'm sure you will change your mind after that."

"I doubt it," muttered Mira low.

"You want to search for my father, don't you?" Laxus asked directly.

Mira's eyes widened. "How do-"

"How do I know? How long we've known each other, huh?" Laxus smirked and it made Mira scowled. The blond man turned serious again. "It's the same as me. You want to get revenge for your parents. And I have unfinished business with him. We have the same goal, and I think it will be better if we work together. Besides, how will you find my father with just **yourself**?"

"I can ask Makarov-jii to help me. He's a policeman if you forget your grandpa's job."

"Yeah, good move," Laxus snorted. "And let me tell you what your result will be. He will tell you to stay put and let him and the police find Ivan, which is the same thing he told me years ago when my father went missing. I was just seven years old brat back then, so I believed and hung onto his every word. Ten years passed and that blasted father of mine was still out there and became a notorious criminal. So, do you still want to ask for his help?"

"There are other ways still."

"**Mira**," Laxus said Mira's name sternly. "For once, just this one time, don't be stubborn. The police can't catch my father for ten years, who do you think can help you to find him?"

"And you think you are able to do something that even the police can't do for ten years already?" Mira asked in a disbelieved and mocking tone. "_You_, that is only seventeen years old and still a minor? Don't joke with me and stop spouting nonsense!"

"I said **listen** to me," Laxus stressed the 'listen' word. "I never joke on this kind of matter, moreover to spout nonsense. I'm not working alone in this case. In fact, I have found something that I doubt even the police know about this information. Jiji still doesn't know why my father has gone missing, but _I_ know where he will be and what his goal is."

Mira wanted to ask whom Laxus had worked with but his last sentence made her forget. "You know where he is?" said Mira only above a whisper, sounded hopeful.

"No, I don't. Not exactly."

"What do you mean?"

"Agree to what I propose to you, then I will tell you _everything_."

"Why are you so adamant about me joining you?" Mira wanted to pull her hair, frustrated by Laxus. He really knew how to make her annoyed to the max. Seriously!

"I have told you the reason," Laxus tipped Mira chin slightly. "I want to protect you."

"And why do you want to do that? You and I don't have any special relationship that obliged you to protect me. We are just a neighbor and a bickering partner. That's all."

"We never need words to describe what we are, don't we?" And that's true. They clicked in an odd way, in which they could understand each other's intentions without having to say it out loud. An odd _yet_ also compelling from other points of view. For that, Mira couldn't find any words to argue.

After that, they had a silent staring contest. Their breath had returned to normal. With each of them didn't want to back down, they stayed like that for a while.

Laxus waited for Mira's reaction… for her response. He had laid out all his intentions blatantly and he hoped that she would give him the answer that he's looking for. The anxiousness for Mira's answer almost got into his patience when Mira did something surprising. She hugged Laxus and buried her head in his chest. It was the first time Mira had ever shown any affection to him… the kiss before was not counted because he was the one that instigated it first. He looked down, his throat suddenly felt dry. "Mira?"

Mira inhaled Laxus' scent. Even though the rain had mostly washed over his perfume (she knew that Laxus always wore perfume wherever he went), his natural body scent was still there. And when they kissed before, she had breathed the scent and somehow it had calmed her down. Not that she would ever tell Laxus about it. When she inhaled the scent the second time that day, it did calm her down, _again_. Then she leaned her forehead on his broad chest, eyes cast to the floor. "Can you really find your father?" muttered Mira weakly.

Laxus had, in fact, came since the morning that day. He watched from afar the whole process of the funeral. And he noticed something. Mira didn't shed any tears during the whole process. Her face was blank... stoic... unreadable. _'What's on your mind, Mira?'_ The thought had crossed his mind many times that particular day. When the others left Mira alone, one by one, when Mira thought that Makarov was the last one that tried to drag her from in front of her parents' tomb, even when the rain started to pour, Laxus was still on his spot. He waited until the right time to show up when he thought that Mira's stone facade would begin to crumble. When she was at her weakest point. Even though he had miscalculated her stubbornness, at last, he got what he wanted.

_Yet_, something was twisted inside Laxus when he heard how weak Mira sounded. In all his time knowing Mira, the girl was always strong. No one dared to bully her. So, hearing the weak voice Mira letting out now… It was so not like her. And he didn't like it. At all.

Laxus moved his hand and he tipped Mira's chin, guided her head to face him properly. "Look at me."

Slowly, Mira lifted her eyes to meet Laxus.

"I will find him, Mira," said Laxus determined. "He owes us lives. And he will pay what he owes with his life also. That's why I will definitely find him. It's not for you only, it's also what I must do."

Mira could feel the determination in Laxus. She knew Laxus. He never said empty words. That's why she _would_ put her trust in him. "...I trust you." Mira gulped before she said her next words. "And I will join your gang."

Laxus stared wide-eyed to Mira and his lips tug upward, starting to form a grin. "Then-"

"But I won't be yours. I… I have three conditions on joining your gang."

Laxus' grin stopped abruptly and the tug in his lips fell. "What do you mean?" He released Mira's chin, his hand fell to his side.

"First, I have decided to join your gang. Although it's not to my liking, you are right on one thing. I can't do this by myself. I need help. That's why I will take your offer on joining the gang. On the note," Mira pressed her next words, "that I _don't _need any protection from _you _or anyone else." Laxus stayed quiet, a cue for Mira to continue. "Second, I want you to tell and share with me _any_ information that you have about Ivan. Don't you dare to hide the slightest thing from me." Mira threatened. "And last… for being yours… We will talk about it later after you have found your father. For now, I **don't want** to talk about this thing. Deal?"

Laxus had his own thoughts about Mira's three conditions. He knew that Mira wasn't someone that likes to be protected. He doubted that he could change her mind on the subject for the time being. He would deal with this later, and well, at the last resort he would secretly guard her himself. And he had intended to tell Mira all about Ivan. No sweat on that. He could accept the first two, _but the last one_…

"I also want to make a deal with you."

"I'm not bargaining Laxus. You take it or don't bother me anymore. Besides, being yours is not a requirement that I have to do."

"I'm chill with your first two conditions. But for the last one, I admit I agree with what you said. Being mine is not a requirement, it's an obligation." said Laxus arrogantly.

"...Do you even like me?"

"Yes."

Mira blinked her eyes rapidly. "What?"

"I like you."

"W-"

"I don't need to explain to you why I like you," Laxus cut Mira. "You just need to know that I like you and I want you to be mine. If you want a further explanation, you have to be mine first."

"...If you like me, why are you so infuriating and frustrating?" muttered Mira while scowling.

"Okay, I won't press you on this matter," Laxus sighed. "**But**, it doesn't mean I will back down. We will talk about it later as you've proposed. For that, I have to have some backup, in case you will try to dismiss the condition and pretend that it wasn't there before. I want a guarantee that you will address this matter later. And of course, there's only one answer for the matter."

Mira rolled her eyes. "You arrogant-stupid-buffon. Why are you so confident that I will say yes to your deal?"

"Arrogant yes, but if I'm a stupid-buffon, you will never agree to hang with me in the beginning. Just admit it that the only one that can match your wits is me, Mira." Laxus said smugly. "And you know that I always get what I want. Including you."

"I'm not your toy Laxus."

"I never say you are."

"But you think that's what I am!"

"You are degrading yourself too much. Listen, Mira," The seriousness in Laxus' tone made Mira leaned her ears closer without her realizing. "I see you as someone that's on the same level as me. We **_are_** partners. Do you think that I want a partner that is below my level?" Mira bit her lower lip._ He won't. _"I want you to be mine. That has spoken my intention to you."

"... I..."

"I won't press you to answer it now. What I want is some proof, a token of your words."

"I… I can't promise you something that I'm not sure about. I'm not yours, to begin with. In what way can you assure me that this token is needed?"

"As you said, this is an assurance, a promise between you and me."

"Why don't you give me something then? It's you that promised me something."

"I have given something to you but you didn't take it." Mira raised one of her brows. "It's me, the one and only Laxus Dreyar. That's what I've offered to you."

"You are not. You asked me to be yours. Don't twist your own words, Laxus."

"You didn't get it, did you? If you are mine, then of course I am yours. What's with the face?"

"Your unthinkable logic has baffled me this time." Mira shook her head. "Listen, I really don't want to talk about this-"

"I heard you before," Laxus cut Mira.

"Hear me first will you?" asked Mira frustrated. She inhaled deeply and let it out before she continued. "I'll be honest. It's too sudden, okay? I… I've never been in a relationship before. Nor that I want one for the time being. I'm merely thirteen years old and getting into a relationship is beyond what I want to do at the moment. I want to talk about this at the right time… at least until I'm at the proper age to be in a relationship." Mira muttered her next sentence quietly. "If my father was alive, he would kill me to be in a relationship at this age."

"Didn't you hear what I said Mira? I wouldn't force you. The deal that I want to make is for you to give me your answer after I find Ivan. You can prepare and be ready until that time to give me your answer."

"Will you wait until then?"

"I can be patient to get the thing that I want. Besides, I know it won't be long until I get it. But still, I need a token for the reminder."

Mira contemplated Laxus' words. Earlier, she decided that she trusted Laxus, that's why she should also show that she would not break their promise. She reached up the back of her neck and undo the clasp of her necklace. She gathered the necklace on her palm and gazed softly to the accessories.

"My mother gave this to me as my birthday present this year," Mira began to explain. "It was a ring that my father gave to my mother when I was born. She said it was to celebrate the birth of their first child. Sadly, when Elfman and Lisanna were born after, they didn't have enough money to buy another. That's why my mother kept it and she secretly told me not to tell them about this ring. She told me that she intended to give it to me when I turned seventeen, but… maybe she already had a hunch that she wouldn't be there when I turned seventeen." Mira gave a wistful smile. "This is the last gift she gave to me before she died. I made it into a necklace because the ring doesn't fit any of my fingers yet… Here's my token." Mira extended her hand that held the necklace to Laxus. "Take it."

Laxus took the necklace gingerly. He got her messages. That she trusted him, that she was being earnest with their promise, that she was serious with him. He put the necklace inside his pocket carefully. He cast his look to Mira. "I won't let you down, Mira. This is my vow to you."

"I trust and will wait for you. That is my vow."

Without another word, they sealed their vow with another kiss. In the middle of a cathedral, inside the silent chapel, without anyone to witness, the two had made a vow that they didn't know they would take it more than they meant it at the moment. A vow that would bound their life into something they didn't expect would make their life upside down in the near future.

* * *

**To be continued**

* * *

This couple is one of my favorite in Fairy Tail, or as I called them one of the mature couples. Yes. it's not canon (or not?) but I still ship them and made a story for them.

What will happen next after they vow to each other at the cathedral?

I will try to make the next update as soon as possible. Just stay tuned!

See u in the next chapter~~


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